H.R. 5556 — Introduced in House

I 113th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5556 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES September 18, 2014 Mrs. Black (for herself, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mrs. Blackburn, and Mr. Griffin of Arkansas) introduced the following bill; which was 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 A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act with respect to the treatment of patient encounters in ambulatory surgical centers in determining meaningful EHR use, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Electronic Health Fairness Act of 2014. 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Ambulatory surgery centers were not covered under the provisions of the HITECH Act of 2009, which created certification standards and incentives for adopting electronic health record (EHR) technology in the physician office and hospital settings. (2) CMS defines a meaningful EHR user as an eligible professional having 50 percent or more of the professional’s outpatient encounters at practices or locations equipped with certified EHR technology. (3) Physicians with patient encounters in an ambulatory surgical center are at a disadvantage when attempting to meet meaningful use requirements because there currently is not certified EHR technology for such centers. (4) Until such time as EHR technology is certified specifically for use in the ambulatory surgical centers, patient encounters that occur in such a center should not be used when calculating whether an eligible professional meets meaningful use requirements, unless an eligible professional elects to include those encounters. 3. Treatment of patient encounters in ambulatory surgical centers in determining meaningful EHR use Section 1848(o)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–4(o)(2)) is amended by adding at the end of the following new subparagraph: (D) Treatment of patient encounters at ambulatory surgical centers (i) In general Subject to clause (ii), any patient encounter of an eligible professional occurring at an ambulatory surgical center (described in section 1832(i)(1)(A)) shall not be treated as a patient encounter in determining whether an eligible professional qualifies as a meaningful EHR user. (ii) Sunset Clause (i) shall no longer apply as of the first year that begins more than 3 years after the date the Secretary certifies EHR technology for the ambulatory surgical center setting. .