Electronic Health Records Improvement Act

Bill: 113-hr-1331
Sponsor: Rep. Black, Diane [R-TN-6]
Introduced: 2013-03-21 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: 2013-03-21
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.
 
Adds as a criterion for meaningful EHR user that an eligible professional satisfactorily uses a qualified national specialty registry system that measures quality improvement or improves patient safety.
 
Directs the Secretary to specify criteria for determining: (1) if a national specialty registry system is qualified under this Act, and (2) if an eligible professional has demonstrated satisfactory use of such a system for a period.
 
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 claims for items or services furnished by an eligible professional at an ambulatory surgical center during performance years for the 2015, 2016, or 2017 payment determinations from inclusion in data used to determine if the eligible professional is 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 title XIX (Medicaid) to make certain requirements of this Act inapplicable to eligible professional Medicaid provider incentives to encourage the adoption and use of certified EHR technology. 


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2013-04-09
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2013-03-22
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2013-03-21
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: 2013-03-21
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: 2013-03-21
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2013-03-21
text: Introduced in House