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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2254 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2254

 To direct the Attorney General to establish uniform standards for the 
 exchange of controlled substance and prescription information for the 
    purpose of preventing diversion, fraud, and abuse of controlled 
                substances and other prescription drugs.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 29, 2012

 Mr. Portman (for himself and Mr. Whitehouse) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
 To direct the Attorney General to establish uniform standards for the 
 exchange of controlled substance and prescription information for the 
    purpose of preventing diversion, fraud, and abuse of controlled 
                substances and other prescription drugs.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Interstate Drug Monitoring 
Efficiency and Data Sharing Act of 2012'' or the ``ID MEDS Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL INTEROPERABILITY STANDARDS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General shall establish national 
interoperability standards to facilitate the exchange of prescription 
information across State lines by States receiving grant funds under--
            (1) the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program 
        established under the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and 
        State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
        2002 (Public Law 107-77; 115 Stat. 748); and
            (2) the Controlled Substance Monitoring Program established 
        under section 399O of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
        280g-3).
    (b) Requirements.--The Attorney General, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall ensure that the national 
interoperability standards established under subsection (a)--
            (1) implement open standards that are freely available, 
        without cost and without restriction, in order to promote broad 
        implementation;
            (2) provide for the use of exchange intermediaries, or 
        hubs, as necessary to facilitate interstate interoperability by 
        accommodating State-to-hub and direct State-to-State 
        communication;
            (3) support transmissions that are fully secured as 
        required, using industry standard methods of encryption, to 
        ensure that Protected Health Information and Personally 
        Identifiable Information (PHI and PII) are not compromised at 
        any point during such transmission; and
            (4) employ access control methodologies to share protected 
        information solely in accordance with State laws and 
        regulations.

SEC. 3. STATE RECIPIENT REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date on 
        which the Attorney General establishes national 
        interoperability standards under section 2(a), a recipient of a 
        grant under the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring 
        Program established under the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 
        and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations 
        Act, 2002 (Public Law 107-77; 115 Stat. 748) shall ensure that 
        the databases of the State comply with such national 
        interoperability standards.
            (2) Use of enhancement grant funds.--A recipient of an 
        enhancement grant under the Harold Rogers Prescription Drug 
        Monitoring Program established under the Departments of 
        Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related 
        Agencies Appropriations Act, 2002 (Public Law 107-77; 115 Stat. 
        748) may use enhancement grant funds to standardize the 
        technology architecture used by the recipient to comply with 
        the national interoperability standards established under 
        section (2)(a).
    (b) Controlled Substance Monitoring Program.--Section 399O(e) of 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 280g-3(e)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Not later than 1 year after the date on which the 
        Attorney General establishes national interoperability 
        standards under section 2(a) of the ID MEDS Act, the State 
        shall ensure that the database complies with such national 
        interoperability standards.''.

SEC. 4. REPORT.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary 
of Health and Human Services, shall submit to the Committee on the 
Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House 
of Representatives a report on enhancing the interoperability of State 
prescription monitoring programs with other technologies and databases 
used for detecting and reducing fraud, diversion, and abuse of 
prescription drugs.
    (b) Contents.--The report required under subsection (a) shall 
include--
            (1) a discussion of the feasibility of making State 
        prescription monitoring programs interoperable with other 
        relevant technologies and databases, including--
                    (A) electronic prescribing systems;
                    (B) databases operated by the Drug Enforcement 
                Agency;
                    (C) electronic health records; and
                    (D) pre-payment fraud-detecting analytics 
                technologies;
            (2) an assessment of legal, technical, fiscal, privacy, or 
        security challenges that have an impact on interoperability;
            (3) a discussion of how State prescription monitoring 
        programs could increase the production and distribution of 
        unsolicited reports to prescribers and dispensers of 
        prescription drugs, law enforcement officials, and health 
        professional licensing agencies, including the enhancement of 
        such reporting through interoperability with other States and 
        relevant technology and databases; and
            (4) any recommendations for addressing challenges that 
        impact interoperability of State prescription monitoring 
        programs in order to reduce fraud, diversion, and abuse of 
        prescription drugs.
                                 <all>
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