(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
TITLE I—STRATEGIC PLAN TOWARDS NATIONWIDE 
INTEROPERABILITY 
Sec. 101. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Tech-
nology. 
Sec. 102. Successor to the American Health Information Community. 
Sec. 103. Health Information Technology Resource Center. 
Sec. 104. Strategic plan for coordinating implementation of health information 
technology. 
TITLE II—MODERNIZING THE HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SYSTEM 
Sec. 201. Rulemaking to upgrade ASC X12 and NCPDP standards and ICD 
codes. 
Sec. 202. Procedures to ensure timely updating of standards that enable elec-
tronic exchanges. 
Sec. 203. Federal purchasing and data collection. 
Sec. 204. Study to improve preservation and protection of security and con-
fidentiality of health information. 
TITLE III—INCENTIVIZING ADOPTION OF HEALTH IT 
Sec. 301. Physician Incentives to Adopt Health IT. 
Sec. 302. Elimination of sunset applicable to Stark exception for electronic 
health records arrangements. 
Sec. 303. Promotion of telehealth services. 
Sec. 304. FQHCs included in electronic health records demonstration. 
TITLE I—STRATEGIC PLAN TO-
WARDS NATIONWIDE INTER-
OPERABILITY 
SEC. 101. OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL COORDINATOR FOR 
HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 
the Department of Health and Human Services an Office 
of the National Coordinator for Health Information Tech-
nology that shall be headed by the National Coordinator 
for Health Information Technology (referred to in this 
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section as the ‘‘National Coordinator’’). The National Co-
ordinator shall be appointed by the President and shall 
report directly to the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services. The National Coordinator shall be paid at a rate 
equal to the rate of basic pay for level IV of the Executive 
Schedule. 
(b) 
GOALS
OF
NATIONWIDE
INTEROPERABLE 
HEALTH
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
INFRASTRUC-
TURE.—The National Coordinator shall perform the du-
ties under subsection (c) in a manner consistent with the 
development of a nationwide interoperable health informa-
tion technology infrastructure that— 
(1) improves health care quality, reduces med-
ical errors, increases the efficiency of care, and ad-
vances the delivery of appropriate, evidence-based 
health care services; 
(2) promotes wellness, disease prevention, and 
management of chronic illnesses by increasing the 
availability and transparency of information related 
to the health care needs of an individual for such in-
dividual; 
(3) ensures that appropriate information nec-
essary to make medical decisions is available in a us-
able form at the time and in the location that the 
medical service involved is provided; 
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(4) produces greater value for health care ex-
penditures by reducing health care costs that result 
from inefficiency, medical errors, inappropriate care, 
and incomplete information; 
(5) promotes a more effective marketplace, 
greater competition, greater systems analysis, in-
creased choice, enhanced quality, and improved out-
comes in health care services; 
(6) improves the coordination of information 
and the provision of such services through an effec-
tive infrastructure for the secure and authorized ex-
change and use of health care information; and 
(7) ensures that the confidentiality of individ-
ually identifiable health information of a patient is 
secure and protected. 
(c) DUTIES OF NATIONAL COORDINATOR.— 
(1) STRATEGIC PLANNER FOR INTEROPERABLE 
HEALTH
INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY.—The Na-
tional Coordinator shall maintain, direct, and over-
see the continuous improvement of a strategic plan 
to guide the nationwide implementation of interoper-
able health information technology in both the public 
and private health care sectors consistent with sub-
section (b). 
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(2) PRINCIPAL
ADVISOR
TO
HHS.—The Na-
tional Coordinator shall serve as the principal advi-
sor of the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
on the development, application, and use of health 
information technology, and coordinate the health 
information technology programs of the Department 
of Health and Human Services. 
(3) COORDINATOR OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT 
ACTIVITIES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—The National Coordi-
nator shall serve as the coordinator of Federal 
Government activities relating to health infor-
mation technology. 
(B) 
SPECIFIC
COORDINATION
FUNC-
TIONS.—In carrying out subparagraph (A), the 
National Coordinator shall provide for— 
(i) the approval of standards devel-
oped and recommended by AHIC 2.0 
under section 102 (which may include 
standards relating to the interoperability, 
privacy, and security of health information 
technology) to be used in the electronic 
creation, maintenance, or exchange of 
health information; and 
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(ii) the certification and inspection of 
health information technology products, ex-
changes, and architectures to ensure that 
such products, exchanges, and architec-
tures conform to the applicable standards 
approved under clause (i). 
Any standard approved or health information 
technology product, exchange, or architecture 
certified pursuant to Executive Order 13335 as 
of the day before the date of the enactment of 
this Act shall be deemed to be a standard ap-
proved or product, exchange, or architecture 
certified, respectively, pursuant to this subpara-
graph as of such date of enactment. 
(C) USE OF PRIVATE ENTITIES.—The Na-
tional Coordinator shall, to the maximum extent 
possible, contract with or recognize private enti-
ties in carrying out subparagraph (B). 
(D) UNIFORM
APPLICATION
OF
STAND-
ARDS.—A standard approved under subpara-
graph (B)(i) for use in the electronic creation, 
maintenance, or exchange of health information 
shall preempt a standard adopted under State 
law, regulation, or rule for such a use. 
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