I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5556 
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 
Mrs. BLACK (for herself, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mrs. BLACKBURN, 
and Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Electronic Health 
Fairness Act of 2014’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Ambulatory surgery centers were not cov-
ered under the provisions of the HITECH Act of 
2009, which created certification standards and in-
centives for adopting electronic health record (EHR) 
technology in the physician office and hospital set-
tings. 
(2) CMS defines a meaningful EHR user as an 
eligible professional having 50 percent or more of 
the professional’s outpatient encounters at practices 
or locations equipped with certified EHR technology. 
(3) Physicians with patient encounters in an 
ambulatory surgical center are at a disadvantage 
when attempting to meet meaningful use require-
ments because there currently is not certified EHR 
technology for such centers. 
(4) Until such time as EHR technology is cer-
tified specifically for use in the ambulatory surgical 
centers, patient encounters that occur in such a cen-
ter should not be used when calculating whether an 
eligible professional meets meaningful use require-
ments, unless an eligible professional elects to in-
clude those encounters. 
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SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF PATIENT ENCOUNTERS IN AMBULA-
TORY SURGICAL CENTERS IN DETERMINING 
MEANINGFUL EHR USE. 
Section 1848(o)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395w–4(o)(2)) is amended by adding at the end 
of the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) TREATMENT OF PATIENT ENCOUN-
TERS AT AMBULATORY SURGICAL CENTERS.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 
(ii), any patient encounter of an eligible 
professional occurring at an ambulatory 
surgical 
center 
(described 
in 
section 
1832(i)(1)(A)) shall not be treated as a 
patient encounter in determining whether 
an eligible professional qualifies as a mean-
ingful EHR user. 
‘‘(ii) SUNSET.—Clause (i) shall no 
longer apply as of the first year that be-
gins more than 3 years after the date the 
Secretary certifies EHR technology for the 
ambulatory surgical center setting.’’. 
Æ 
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