II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2688 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to extend health information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals and facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 27, 2023 

Mr. MULLIN (for himself and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to extend health 

information technology assistance eligibility to behavioral 

health, mental health, and substance abuse professionals 

and facilities, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Behavioral Health In5 formation Technology Coordination Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 

2 GRANTS. 

3 Subtitle B of title XXX of the Public Health Service 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–31 et seq.) is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 3019. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INFORMATION TECH7 NOLOGY GRANTS. 

8 ‘‘(a) GRANTS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The National Coordinator 

10 shall award grants to eligible behavioral health care 

11 providers to promote behavioral health integration 

12 and improve care coordination for persons with men13 tal health and substance use disorders. 

14 ‘‘(2) NOFO.—Not later than 18 months after 

15 the date of enactment of the Behavioral Health In16 formation Technology Coordination Act, the Na17 tional Coordinator shall publish a Notice of Funding 

18 Opportunity for the grants described in paragraph 

19 (1). 

20 ‘‘(b) GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.—In making 

21 grants under subsection (a), the National Coordinator 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) to the maximum extent practicable, ensure 

24 an equitable geographical distribution of grant re25 cipients throughout the United States; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) give due consideration to applicants from 

2 both urban and rural areas. 

3 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PROVIDERS.—To be eligible to receive 

4 a grant under subsection (a), a behavioral health care pro5 vider shall be— 

6 ‘‘(1) a physician (as defined in section 

7 1861(r)(1) of the Social Security Act) who special8 izes in psychiatry or addiction medicine; 

9 ‘‘(2) a clinical psychologist providing qualified 

10 psychologist services (as defined in section 1861(ii) 

11 of such Act); 

12 ‘‘(3) a nurse practitioner (as defined in 

13 section1861(aa)(5)(A) of such Act) with respect to 

14 the provision of psychiatric services; 

15 ‘‘(4) a clinical social worker (as defined in 

16 section1861(hh)(1) of such Act); 

17 ‘‘(5) a psychiatric hospital (as defined in section 

18 1861(f) of such Act); 

19 ‘‘(6) a community mental health center that 

20 meets the criteria specified in section 1913(c); or 

21 ‘‘(7) a residential or outpatient mental health 

22 or substance abuse treatment facility. 

23 ‘‘(d) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.—An eligible behav24 ioral health care provider receiving a grant under sub25 section (a) shall use the grant funds— 


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1 ‘‘(1) to purchase or upgrade health information 

2 technology software and support services needed to 

3 appropriately provide behavioral health care services 

4 and, where feasible, facilitate behavioral health inte5 gration; 

6 ‘‘(2) to demonstrate (through a process speci7 fied by the Secretary, such as the use of attestation) 

8 that the eligible behavioral health care provider has 

9 acquired health information technology that meets 

10 the certification criteria described in the final rule of 

11 the Office of the National Coordinator for Health 

12 Information Technology of the Department of 

13 Health and Human Services entitled ‘2015 Edition 

14 Health Information Technology (Health IT) Certifi15 cation Criteria, 2015 Edition Base Electronic 

16 Health Record (EHR) Definition, and ONC Health 

17 IT Certification Program Modifications’ (80 Fed. 

18 Reg. 62602 (October 16, 2015)) (or successor cri19 teria); 

20 ‘‘(3) to ensure that such health information 

21 technology is fully compliant with the regulations 

22 specified in the final rule of the Centers for Medi23 care & Medicaid Services entitled ‘Medicare and 

24 Medicaid Programs; Patient Protection and Afford25 able Care Act; Interoperability and Patient Access 


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1 for Medicare Advantage Organization and Medicaid 

2 Managed Care Plans, State Medicaid Agencies, 

3 CHIP Agencies and CHIP Managed Care Entities, 

4 Issuers of Qualified Health Plans on the Federally5 Facilitated Exchanges, and Health Care Providers’ 

6 (85 Fed. Reg. 25510 (May 1, 2020)), including by 

7 demonstrating the capacity to exchange patient clin8 ical data with primary care physicians, medical spe9 cialty providers and acute care hospitals, psychiatric 

10 hospitals, and hospital emergency departments; and 

11 ‘‘(4) to promote, where feasible, the implemen12 tation and improvement of bidirectional integrated 

13 services, including evidence-informed screening, as14 sessment, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, recovery, 

15 and coordinated discharge planning services for 

16 mental health and substance use disorders, and co17 occurring physical health conditions and chronic dis18 eases. 

19 ‘‘(e) APPLICATIONS.—An eligible behavioral health 

20 care provider seeking a grant under subsection (a) shall 

21 submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in 

22 such manner, and containing such information as the Sec23 retary may require. 

24 ‘‘(f) GRANT AMOUNTS.—The amount of a grant 

25 under subsection (a) shall be not more than $2,000,000. 


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1 ‘‘(g) DURATION.—A grant under subsection (a) shall 

2 be for a period of not more than 2 years. 

3 ‘‘(h) REPORTING ON PROGRAM OUTCOMES.—Not 

4 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Be5 havioral Health Information Technology Coordination Act, 

6 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 

7 Congress a report that describes the implementation of the 

8 grant program under this section, including— 

9 ‘‘(1) information on the number and type of be10 havioral health care providers that have acquired 

11 and implemented certified health information tech12 nology described in section 3001(c)(5)(C)(iv), includ13 ing a description of any advances or challenges re14 lated to such acquisition and implementation; 

15 ‘‘(2) information on the number and type of be16 havioral health care providers that received a grant 

17 under this section; 

18 ‘‘(3) information on whether the number of, 

19 and rate of participation by, eligible behavioral 

20 health care providers, including behavioral health 

21 care providers that received a grant under this sec22 tion, participating in Medicare and Medicaid under 

23 a value based or capitated payment arrangement has 

24 increased during the grant program; 


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1 ‘‘(4) the extent to which eligible behavioral 

2 health care providers that received a grant under 

3 this section are able to electronically exchange pa4 tient health information with local partners, includ5 ing primary care physicians, medical specialty pro6 viders and acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, 

7 hospital emergency departments, health information 

8 exchanges, Medicare Advantage plans under part C 

9 of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, medicaid 

10 managed care organizations (as defined in section 

11 1903(m)(1)(A) of such Act), and related entities; 

12 ‘‘(5) the extent to which eligible behavioral 

13 health care providers that received a grant under 

14 this section are measuring and electronically report15 ing patient clinical and non-clinical outcomes using 

16 common quality-reporting metrics established by the 

17 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, such as 

18 the child and adult health quality measures pub19 lished under sections 1139A and 1139B of the So20 cial Security Act and quality measures under section 

21 1848(q) of such Act; and 

22 ‘‘(6) evaluation of the impact and effectiveness 

23 of grants under this section on advancing access to 

24 care, quality of care, interoperable exchange of pa25 tient health information between behavioral health 


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1 and medical health providers, and recommendations 

2 on how to use health information technology to im3 prove such outcomes. 

4 ‘‘(i) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall require the Ad5 ministrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv6 ices, the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Sub7 stance Use, and the National Coordinator to develop joint 

8 guidance on how States can use Medicaid authorities and 

9 funding sources (including waiver authority under section 

10 1115 of the Social Security Act, directed payments, en11 hanced Federal matching rates for certain expenditures, 

12 Federal funding for technical assistance, and payment and 

13 service delivery models tested by the Center for Medicare 

14 and Medicaid Innovation under section 1115A of the So15 cial Security Act and other Federal resources to promote 

16 the adoption and interoperability of certified health infor17 mation technology described in section 3001(c)(5)(C)(iv). 

18 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

19 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

20 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY STANDARDS FOR BEHAVIORAL 

22 HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. 

23 Section 3001(c)(5)(C) of the Public Health Service 

24 Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–11(c)(5)(C)) is amended by adding 

25 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(iv) VOLUNTARY STANDARDS FOR

2 BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INFORMATION TECH3 NOLOGY.— 

4 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 

5 than 1 year after the date of enact6 ment of the Behavioral Health Infor7 mation Technology Coordination Act, 

8 the National Coordinator and the As9 sistant Secretary for Mental Health 

10 and Substance Use, acting jointly, in 

11 consultation with appropriate stake12 holders, shall develop recommenda13 tions for the voluntary certification of 

14 health information technology for be15 havioral health care that does not in16 clude a separate certification program 

17 for behavioral health care and practice 

18 settings. 

19 ‘‘(II) CONSIDERATIONS.—The 

20 recommendations under subclause (I) 

21 shall take into consideration issues 

22 such as privacy, minimum clinical 

23 data standards, and sharing relevant 

24 patient health data across the behavVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:39 Aug 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2688.IS S2688

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1 ioral health care, primary health care, 

2 and specialty health care systems.’’. 

Æ 


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