I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3173 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish demonstration programs 
on regionalized systems for emergency care, to support emergency medi-
cine research, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 25, 2007 
Mr. WAXMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish dem-
onstration programs on regionalized systems for emer-
gency care, to support emergency medicine research, 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 ‘‘Improving Emergency 
Medical Care and Response Act of 2007’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings: 
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(1) Emergency medical services play a critically 
important role in health care, public health, and 
public safety by frequently providing immediate 
lifesustaining care and making decisions with limited 
time and information. 
(2) Between 1993 and 2003, the population of 
the United States grew by 12 percent and hospital 
admissions increased by 13 percent, yet emergency 
department visits rose by more than 25 percent dur-
ing this same period of time, from 90,300,000 visits 
in 1993 to 113,900,000 visits in 2003. 
(3) The demand for emergency care in the 
United States continues to grow at a rapid pace. 
(4) In 2003, hospital emergency departments 
received nearly 114,000,000 visits, which is more 
than 1 visit for every 3 people in the United States; 
however, between 1993 and 2003, the number of 
emergency departments declined by 425. 
(5) Many emergency medical services are highly 
fragmented, overburdened, poorly equipped, and in-
sufficiently prepared for day-to-day operations and 
response to major disasters. 
(6) There are more than 6,000 Public Safety 
Answering Points that receive 9–1–1 calls. 
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(7) These Public Safety Answering Points are 
often operated by police departments, fire depart-
ments, city or county governments, or other local en-
tities, which makes attempts to coordinate efforts 
between locations very difficult. 
(8) Regionalized, accountable systems of emer-
gency care show substantial promise in improving 
the day-to-day system-wide coordination essential to 
ensure that Public Safety Answering Points, emer-
gency medical services organizations, public safety 
agencies, public health agencies, medical facilities, 
and others coordinate their activities to ensure that 
patients receive the appropriate care at the scene, 
are transported to the most appropriate facility in 
the shortest time, and receive excellent care at the 
destination medical facility. 
(9) Regionalized, accountable systems of emer-
gency care also show promise in management of the 
special problems of disaster preparation and re-
sponse, including management of patient surge, 
tracking of patients, and coordination and allocation 
of medical resources. 
(10) While there are potentially substantial ben-
efits to be derived from regionalized, accountable 
emergency care systems, little is known about the 
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most effective and efficient methods of regional 
emergency care system development. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to de-
sign, implement, and evaluate regionalized, comprehen-
sive, and accountable systems of emergency care that— 
(1) support and improve the day-to-day oper-
ations and coordination of a regional emergency 
medical care system; 
(2) increase disaster preparedness and medical 
surge capacity; 
(3) include different models of regionalized 
emergency care systems, including models for urban 
and rural communities; 
(4) can be implemented by private or public en-
tities; and 
(5) meet quality and accountability standards 
for the operation of emergency care systems and the 
impact of such systems on patient outcomes. 
SEC. 3. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF REGIONALIZED 
SYSTEMS FOR EMERGENCY CARE. 
Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec-
tion 314 the following: 
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