II 

Calendar No. 185 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1347 

[Report No. 114–106] 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to the treatment 

of patient encounters in ambulatory surgical centers in determining 

meaningful EHR use, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2015 

Mr. ISAKSON (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. WICKER, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. 

ALEXANDER, and Mr. COCHRAN) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

JULY 30, 2015 

Reported by Mr. HATCH, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect 

to the treatment of patient encounters in ambulatory 

surgical centers in determining meaningful EHR use, 

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, 


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•S 1347 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electronic Health 

3 Fairness Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Ambulatory surgery centers were not cov7 ered under the provisions of the HITECH Act of 

8 2009, which created certification standards and in9 centives for adopting electronic health record (EHR) 

10 technology in the physician office and hospital set11 tings. 

12 (2) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv13 ices (CMS) defines a meaningful EHR user as an el14 igible professional having 50 percent or more of the 

15 professional’s outpatient encounters at practices or 

16 locations equipped with certified EHR technology. 

17 (3) Physicians with patient encounters in an 

18 ambulatory surgical center are at a disadvantage 

19 when attempting to meet meaningful use require20 ments because there currently is not certified EHR 

21 technology for such centers. 

22 (4) Until such time as EHR technology is cer23 tified specifically for use in the ambulatory surgical 

24 centers, patient encounters that occur in such a cen25 ter should not be used when calculating whether an 

26 eligible professional meets meaningful use requireVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Jul 30, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S1347.RS S1347

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•S 1347 RS

1 ments, unless an eligible professional elects to in2 clude those encounters. 

3 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PATIENT ENCOUNTERS IN AMBULA4 TORY SURGICAL CENTERS IN DETERMINING 

5 MEANINGFUL EHR USE. 

6 Section 1848(o)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 1395w–4(o)(2)) is amended by adding at the end 

8 of the following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(E) TREATMENT OF PATIENT ENCOUN10 TERS AT AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTERS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

12 (ii), any patient encounter of an eligible 

13 professional occurring at an ambulatory 

14 surgical center (described in section 

15 1832(i)(1)(A)) shall not be treated as a 

16 patient encounter in determining whether 

17 an eligible professional qualifies as a mean18 ingful EHR user. 

19 ‘‘(ii) SUNSET.—Clause (i) shall no 

20 longer apply as of the first year that be21 gins more than 3 years after the date the 

22 Secretary certifies EHR technology for the 

23 ambulatory surgical center setting.’’. 


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4 

•S 1347 RS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electronic Health Fair3 ness Act of 2015’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Ambulatory surgery centers were not covered 

7 under the provisions of the HITECH Act of 2009, 

8 which created certification standards and incentives 

9 for adopting electronic health record (EHR) tech10 nology in the physician office and hospital settings. 

11 (2) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Serv12 ices (CMS) defines a meaningful EHR user as an eli13 gible professional having 50 percent or more of the 

14 professional’s outpatient encounters at practices or lo15 cations equipped with certified EHR technology. 

16 (3) Physicians with patient encounters in an 

17 ambulatory surgical center are at a disadvantage 

18 when attempting to meet meaningful use requirements 

19 because there currently is not certified EHR tech20 nology for such centers. 

21 (4) Until such time as EHR technology is cer22 tified specifically for use in the ambulatory surgical 

23 centers, patient encounters that occur in such a center 

24 should not be used when calculating whether an eligi25 ble professional meets meaningful use requirements, 


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•S 1347 RS

1 unless an eligible professional elects to include those 

2 encounters. 

3 SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PATIENT ENCOUNTERS IN AMBULA4 TORY SURGICAL CENTERS IN DETERMINING 

5 MEANINGFUL EHR USE. 

6 Section 1848(o)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 

7 U.S.C. 1395w–4(o)(2)) is amended by adding at the end 

8 of the following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(E) TREATMENT OF PATIENT ENCOUNTERS

10 AT AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTERS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

12 (ii), for a payment year after 2015, any pa13 tient encounter of an eligible professional 

14 occurring at an ambulatory surgical center 

15 (described in section 1833(i)(1)(A)) shall 

16 not be treated as a patient encounter in de17 termining whether an eligible professional 

18 qualifies as a meaningful EHR user. Not19 withstanding any other provision of law, 

20 the Secretary may implement this clause by 

21 program instruction or otherwise. 

22 ‘‘(ii) SUNSET.—Clause (i) shall no 

23 longer apply as of the first payment year 

24 that begins more than 3 years after the date 

25 the Secretary determines, through notice 


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•S 1347 RS

1 and comment rulemaking, that certified 

2 EHR technology is applicable to the ambu3 latory surgical center setting.’’. 


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Calendar No. 185 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1347 

[Report No. 114–106] 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act 

poses. mining meaningful EHR use, and for other purters in ambulatory surgical centers in deterwith respect to the treatment of patient encounJULY 30, 2015 

Reported with an amendment 


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