I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3292
To establish an informatics grant program for hospitals and skilled nursing
facilities and to encourage health care providers to make major informa-
tion technology advances by establishing a Medical Information Tech-
nology Advisory Board that will develop and disseminate standards for
the electronic sharing of medical information.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 14, 2001
Mr. HOUGHTON (for himself and Mrs. THURMAN) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in
addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration
of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee con-
cerned
A BILL
To establish an informatics grant program for hospitals and
skilled nursing facilities and to encourage health care
providers to make major information technology advances
by establishing a Medical Information Technology Advi-
sory Board that will develop and disseminate standards
for the electronic sharing of medical information.
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 ‘‘Medication Errors Re-
duction Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. INFORMATICS SYSTEMS GRANT PROGRAM FOR
HOSPITALS AND SKILLED NURSING FACILI-
TIES.
(a) GRANTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and
Human Services (in this section referred to as the
‘‘Secretary’’) shall establish a program to make
grants to eligible entities that have submitted appli-
cations in accordance with subsection (b) for the
purpose of assisting such entities in offsetting the
costs related to purchasing, leasing, developing, and
implementing standardized clinical health care
informatics systems designed to improve patient
safety and reduce adverse events and health care
complications resulting from medication errors.
(2) DURATION.—The authority of the Secretary
to make grants under this section shall terminate on
September 30, 2011.
(3) COSTS DEFINED.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘costs’’ shall include total expendi-
tures incurred for—
(A) purchasing, leasing, and installing
computer software and hardware, including
handheld computer technologies;
(B) making improvements to existing com-
puter software and hardware;
(C) purchasing or leasing communications
capabilities necessary for clinical data access,
storage, and exchange; and
(D) providing education and training to el-
igible entity staff on computer patient safety in-
formation systems.
(4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY DEFINED.—For purposes
of this section, the term ‘‘eligible entity’’ means the
following entities:
(A) HOSPITAL.—A hospital (as defined in
section 1861(e) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1395x(e))).
(B) 
SKILLED
NURSING
FACILITY.—A
skilled nursing facility (as defined in section
1819(a) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–3(e))).
(b) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity seeking a grant
under this section shall submit an application to the Sec-
retary at such time, in such form and manner, and con-
taining such information as the Secretary specifies.
(c) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS
AND RURAL HOS-
PITAL RESERVE.—
(1) SPECIAL
CONSIDERATION
FOR
ELIGIBLE
ENTITIES THAT SERVE A LARGE NUMBER OF MEDI-
CARE, MEDICAID, AND
SCHIP
ELIGIBLE
INDIVID-
UALS.—In awarding grants under this section, the
Secretary shall give special consideration to eligible
entities in which individuals that are eligible for ben-
efits under the medicare program under title XVIII
of the Social Security Act, the medicaid program
under title XIX of such Act, or under the State chil-
dren’s health insurance program under title XXI of
such Act make up a high percentage of the total pa-
tient population of the entity.
(2) RESERVE 20 PERCENT OF GRANT FUNDS
FOR RURAL HOSPITALS.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to subpara-
graph (C), the Secretary shall ensure that at
least 20 percent of the funds available for mak-
ing grants under this section are used for mak-
ing grants to eligible entities that are rural hos-
pitals.
(B) RURAL HOSPITAL DEFINED.—For pur-
poses of subparagraph (A), the term ‘‘rural hos-
pital’’ means a hospital that—
(i) is located in a rural area (as such
term is defined for purposes of section
1886(d) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1395ww(d)));
(ii) is located in an area designated by
any law or regulation of the State as a
rural area; or
(iii) is designated by the State as a
rural hospital.
(C) AVAILABILITY OF RESERVE FUNDS IF
LIMITED NUMBER OF RURAL HOSPITALS APPLY
FOR GRANTS.—If the Secretary estimates that
the amount of funds reserved under subpara-
graph (A) for hospitals described in such sub-
paragraph exceeds the maximum amount of
funds permitted for such hospitals under sub-
section (d), the Secretary may reduce the
amount reserved for such hospitals by an
amount equal to such excess and use such
funds for awarding grants to other eligible enti-
ties.
(3) SPECIAL CONSIDERATION FOR COMPLIANCE
WITH
RECOMMENDED
STANDARDS.—In awarding
grants under this section, the Secretary shall give
special consideration to eligible entities for grants
(e) ELIGIBLE ENTITY REQUIRED TO FURNISH SEC-
RETARY WITH INFORMATION.—An eligible entity receiv-
ing a grant under this section shall furnish the Secretary
with such information as the Secretary may require to—
(1) evaluate the project for which the grant is
made; and
(2) ensure that funding provided under the
grant is expended for the purposes for which it is
made.
(f) REPORTS.—
(1) INTERIM REPORTS.—
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall
submit, at least annually, a report to the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on Finance
of the Senate on the grant program established
under this section.
(B) CONTENTS.—A report submitted pur-
suant to subparagraph (A) shall include infor-
mation on—
(i) the number of grants made;
(ii) the nature of the projects for
which funding is provided under the grant
program;
(iii) the geographic distribution of
grant recipients; and
(iv) such other matters as the Sec-
retary determines appropriate.
(2) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days
after the completion of all of the projects for which
a grant is made under this section, the Secretary
shall submit a final report to the committees re-
ferred to in paragraph (1)(A) on the grant program
established under this section, together with such
recommendations for legislation and administrative
action as the Secretary determines appropriate.
(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
(1) AUTHORIZATION.—
(A) HOSPITALS.—There are authorized to
be appropriated from the Federal Hospital In-
surance Trust Fund under section 1817 of the
Social 
Security 
Act 
(42 
U.S.C. 
1395i)
$93,000,000, for each of the fiscal years 2002
through 2011, for the purpose of making grants
under this section to eligible entities that are
hospitals.
(B) 
SKILLED
NURSING
FACILITIES.—
There are authorized to be appropriated from
the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund
under section 1817 of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1395i) $4,500,000, for each of the
fiscal years 2002 through 2011, for the purpose
of making grants under this section to eligible
entities that are skilled nursing facilities.
(2) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts appropriated
pursuant to the authority contained in subparagraph
(A) or (B) of paragraph (1) shall remain available,
without fiscal year limitation, through September
30, 2011.
SEC. 3. MEDICAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY
BOARD.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—No later than three months
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary
of Health and Human Services (in this section referred
to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall appoint a board to be known
as the ‘‘Medical Information Technology Advisory Board’’
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘MITAB’’). The Sec-
retary shall designate one member as chairman and one
as vice chairman.
(b) COMPOSITION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The MITAB shall consist of
17 members that include—
(A) experts from the fields of medical in-
formation, information technology, medical con-
tinuous quality improvement, medical records
security and privacy, individual and institu-
tional health care clinical providers, health re-
searchers, and health care purchasers;
(B) one or more Members of the National
Committee on Vital and Health Statistics and
one or more Members of the Medicare Payment
Advisory Commission or its staff; and
(C) one or more staff experts from the Na-
tional Library of Medicine, the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality.
(2) TERMS; ETC.—The provisions of paragraphs
(3) through (8) of section 4021(c) of the Balanced
Budget Act of 1997 shall apply to the MITAB in
the same manner as they applied to the National Bi-
partisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.
(c) DUTIES.—
(1) INITIAL REPORT.—No later than 30 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
MITAB shall submit to Congress a report on the
following:
(A) The best current practices in medical
information technology.
(B) The requirements to be established
(after appropriate development and testing)
for—
(i) health care information technology
interoperability standardization,
(ii) common medical terminology (lexi-
con), and
(iii) records security.
(C) 
Certification 
of 
compliance 
with
MITAB requirements, so that the goal of con-
fidential information exchange among health
care providers may be promoted and so that
long-term compatibility among information sys-
tems is maximized, in order to promote one or
more of the goals described in subsection (d).
(2) SUBSEQUENT
REPORTS.—During the 6
years after the year in which the report is submitted
under paragraph (1), the MITAB shall submit to
Congress reports, every 24 months, relating to addi-
tional recommendations, best practices, results of in-
formation technology improvements financed under
grants under section 2, and such other matters as
may help ensure the most rapid dissemination of
best practices in health care information technology.
(d) GOALS.—The goals described in this subsection
are the following:
(1) To maximize positive outcomes in clinical
care—
(A) by providing decision support for diag-
nosis and care; and
(B) by assisting in the emergency treat-
ment of a patient presenting at a facility where
there is no medical record of the patient.
(2) To contribute to (and be consistent with)
the development of the patient assessment instru-
ment provided for under section 545 of the Medi-
care, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement
and Protection Act of 2000 (as enacted into law by
section 1(a)(6) of Public Law 106–554), and to as-
sist in minimizing the need for new and different
records as patients move from provider to provider.
(3) To reduce or eliminate the need for redun-
dant records, paperwork, and the repetitive taking of
patient histories and administering of tests.
(4) To minimize medical errors, such as admin-
istration of contraindicated drugs.
(5) To promote and ensure access to best prac-
tices of medicine through support of research across
institutions.
(6) To provide a compatible information tech-
nology architecture that facilitates future quality
and cost-saving needs and that avoids the financing
and development of information technology systems
that are not readily compatible.
(e) STAFF AND ADMINISTRATION.—The provisions of
section 4021(d) of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 shall
apply to the MITAB in the same manner as they applied
to the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of
Medicare.
(f) POWERS.—The provisions of section 4021(e) of
the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 shall apply to the
MITAB in the same manner as they applied to the Na-
tional Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.
(g) TERMINATION.—The MITAB shall terminate 30
days after the date of submission of its final report under
subsection (c)(2).
(h) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated $2,500,000 in fiscal
year 2002, $8,000,000 in fiscal year 2003, and
$9,500,000 in fiscal year 2004 to carry out this section.
The full amount of such appropriation shall be payable
from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund under
section 1817 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i).
Funding for the reports provided under subsection (c)(2)
shall be from funds appropriated for the administrative
budget of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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