Electronic Health Records Improvement Act

Bill: 112-hr-6598
Sponsor: Rep. Black, Diane [R-TN-6]
Introduced: 2012-11-16 in the House
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Administrative remedies
Computers and information technology
Congressional oversight
Department of Health and Human Services
Health care costs and insurance
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Home and outpatient care
Licensing and registrations
Medicaid
Medicare
Prescription drugs
Rural conditions and development
Surgery and anesthesia

Summary:
action_date: 2012-11-16
text: 
Electronic Health Records Improvement Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exempt certain eligible physicians in solo practice and physicians near early retirement age from the application of the Medicare payment adjustment for not demonstrating electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use for certain payment years.
 
Establishes a special rebate for eligible professionals who receive a negative adjustment to their payments for failure to establish an EHR process but subsequently do establish a process meeting the criteria for establishing meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
 
Creates specified additional exceptions to the application of the Medicare negative payment adjustment for certain Medicaid providers participating in the Medicaid EHR incentive program and hospital-based eligible professionals not demonstrating EHR meaningful use.
 
Requires treatment of an eligible professional as a meaningful EHR user if the professional demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) use of a certified national specialty registry system in a meaningful manner.
 
Extends: (1) Medicare EHR incentives (increased payments and adjustments) to eligible professionals practicing in rural health clinics, and (2) Medicare Electronic Prescribing (ERx) and quality reporting incentives to rural health clinics.
 
Disqualifies patient encounters of an eligible professional occurring at an ambulatory surgical center during certain performance years from treatment as a patient encounter in determining whether an eligible professional qualifies as a meaningful EHR user.
 
Exempts certain eligible professionals from certain EHR meaningful use requirements for purposes of the Medicare payment adjustment.
 
Creates a process for eligible professionals to appeal a determination that they did not qualify as a meaningful EHR user.
 
Amends SSA titles XVIII and XIX (Medicaid) to make certain requirements of the Electronic Health Records Act inapplicable to eligible professional Medicare incentives for certain Medicare Advantage organizations and professionals employed by them or furnishing services in them. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2012-11-16
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2012-11-16
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 concerned.
action_date: 2012-11-16
text: Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 concerned.
action_date: 2012-11-16
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2012-11-16
text: Introduced in House