[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 855 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 855
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize medical simulation
enhancement programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 4, 2009
Mr. Forbes (for himself and Mr. Kennedy) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize medical simulation
enhancement programs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Enhancing Safety in Medicine
Utilizing Leading Advanced Simulation Technologies to Improve Outcomes
Now Act of 2009''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Simulation-based education and training in medicine,
nursing, allied health, podiatry, osteopathy, dentistry, and
emergency response teams can enhance procedural skills and
reinforce best practices by allowing students, experienced
clinicians, and health care professionals to practice
procedures in a realistic setting.
(2) The enhanced clinical skill development provided by
simulation-based training benefits patients and health care
consumers in the form of improved health outcomes, patient
safety, and quality; reduced medical errors and deaths; and
reduced costs associated with providing patient care.
(3) Many educational institutions and health care
providers, particularly those in urban and rural settings, have
difficulty acquiring medical simulation technology. Financial
assistance in the form of Federal grants would significantly
enhance the ability of these entities to deploy medical
simulation technology and incorporate such technology into
training protocols.
(4) The creation of medical simulation centers of
excellence to provide guidance and leadership to educational
institutions and health care entities will facilitate the
deployment of medical simulation technologies and the
commercialization of cutting-edge medical simulation research.
(5) A Federal medical simulation coordinating council would
promote better communication and collaboration between the
Federal entities with experience or interest in simulation-
based education and medical simulation technology deployment.
SEC. 3. MEDICAL SIMULATION ENHANCEMENT.
Part B of title IX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299b
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 918. MEDICAL SIMULATION ENHANCEMENT.
``(a) In General.--The Director shall conduct and support research,
evaluations, initiatives, and demonstration projects, and provide
grants or enter into contracts or cooperative agreements, to enhance
the deployment of medical simulation technologies and the incorporation
of such technologies and equipment into medical, nursing, allied
health, podiatric, osteopathic, and dental education and training
protocols.
``(b) Programs.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Director shall
establish the following programs:
``(1) Medical simulation centers of excellence.--
``(A) Establishment.--The Director shall establish
medical simulation centers of excellence--
``(i) to provide leadership and conduct
research with respect to enhancing and
expanding the utilization of medical simulation
technologies and simulation-based skills
training for physicians, nurses, allied health
professionals, and qualified students; and
``(ii) to improve the efficiency and
effectiveness of medical simulation research
and programs.
``(B) Purpose.--Each medical simulation center of
excellence established under subsection (a) shall--
``(i) provide leadership in a specific area
of medical simulation technology or knowledge;
``(ii) enhance and expand the knowledge
base within the specific area of medical
simulation technology or knowledge in line with
the program requirements and the long-term
interests of the medical simulation community;
and
``(iii) serve as a resource center to
interested health professional schools and
individuals who want to learn about medical
simulation.
``(2) Medical simulation innovation.--The Director shall
promote innovation in medical simulation technologies and
encourage development and deployment of challenging and complex
medical simulation technologies and applications by--
``(A) conducting and supporting research on the
development and deployment of complex or challenging
medical simulation and interdisciplinary simulation
technologies;
``(B) identifying, in consultation with the
Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center,
particularly challenging or complex medical simulation
technologies and applications; and
``(C) developing, in consultation with the National
Library of Medicine, an electronic clearinghouse of
medical simulation technologies currently available and
those being developed.
``(3) Medical simulation technology acquisition.--
``(A) Grants.--The Director shall award grants to
eligible entities for the purchase of medical
simulation technologies for use in the training of
physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, and
qualified students.
``(B) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term
`eligible entity' means a hospital, an academic medical
center, or a school of allied health, dentistry,
medicine, nursing, osteopathic medicine, or podiatric
medicine.
``(4) Medical and interdisciplinary simulation curricula.--
``(A) Grants.--The Director shall award grants to
eligible entities to incorporate medical simulation and
interdisciplinary simulation technologies into
curricula and training of physicians, nurses, and
allied health professionals.
``(B) Definition.--In this subsection, the term
`eligible entity' means an academic medical center or a
school of medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, dentistry,
nursing, or allied health.
``(5) Grants to professional organizations.--
``(A) Grants.--The Director shall award grants to
eligible entities to deploy medical simulation
technologies for the purpose of providing training to
health care providers.
``(B) Definition.--In this paragraph, the term
`eligible entity' means an academic medical center, a
professional organization that provides accreditation
or quality assurance to health care professionals, a
health profession licensing board, or an agency
studying utilization of simulation-based methods in
credentialing and accreditation in health care.
``(6) Federal medical simulation coordinating council.--
``(A) Establishment.--There is established within
the Department of Health and Human Services the Federal
Medical Simulation Coordinating Council (in this
paragraph referred to as the `Coordinating Council').
``(B) Purpose.--The Coordinating Council shall
coordinate the Federal Government's activities
regarding the research on and development, deployment,
and utilization of medical simulation technologies.
``(C) Voting members.--The voting members of the
Coordinating Council shall consist of representatives
of Federal agencies with responsibility for improving
health care delivery to patients, as follows:
``(i) A majority of the voting members of
the Coordinating Council shall be
representatives of the Department of Health and
Human Services. Such majority shall consist of
the Director and such individuals as may be
appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services. At a minimum, the Secretary shall
appoint representatives of--
``(I) the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality;
``(II) the National Institutes of
Health;
``(III) the Health Resources and
Services Administration;
``(IV) the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services; and
``(V) the Food and Drug
Administration.
``(ii) The remainder of the voting members
of the Coordinating Council shall consist of--
``(I) representatives of the
Department of Defense, appointed by the
Secretary of Defense; and
``(II) representatives of the
Department of Veterans Affairs,
appointed by the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs.
``(D) Liaisons.--In addition to the voting members
appointed pursuant to subparagraph (C), the membership
of the Coordinating Council shall include 2
representatives of the advisory panel established under
subsection (c) who--
``(i) shall be selected by the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, the Secretary of
Defense, and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
acting jointly;
``(ii) shall be nonvoting members; and
``(iii) shall serve as liaisons between the
advisory panel and the Coordinating Council.
``(E) Leadership.--The Director shall serve as the
Chair of the Coordinating Council and shall be
responsible for the leadership and oversight of the
activities of the Coordinating Council.
``(F) Consultation.--In carrying out the purpose
described in subparagraph (B), the Coordinating Council
shall consult with outside organizations on ways to
improve medical simulation policy and access.
``(G) Meetings.--
``(i) In general.--The Coordinating Council
shall meet regularly and no less than 2 times
each year.
``(ii) Notice.--Notice of any upcoming
meeting of the Coordinating Council shall be
published in the Federal Register.
``(iii) Public access.--Any meeting of the
Coordinating Council shall be open to the
public.
``(c) Advisory Panel.--The Director shall establish an advisory
panel to make recommendations on how to structure the programs under
subsection (b). The members of such advisory panel shall consist of a
total of at least 10 representatives of the medical simulation
community, including representatives of--
``(1) academic medical centers or schools of medicine,
osteopathy, podiatry, dentistry, nursing, or allied health;
``(2) health care professionals who are actively involved
in medical simulation centers; and
``(3) at least 2 multidisciplinary associations which are
recognized as having a primary focus on medical simulation.
``(d) Definitions.--
``(1) Medical simulation.--The term `medical simulation'
means the use of a device, such as a mannequin, a task trainer,
virtual reality, or a standardized patient, to emulate a real
device, patient, or patient care situation or environment to
teach therapeutic and diagnostic procedures, processes, medical
concepts, and decisionmaking to a health care professional.
``(2) Qualified student.--The term `qualified student'
means a student enrolled full-time or part-time in--
``(A) a school of allied health, a school of
dentistry, a school of medicine, a school of
osteopathic medicine, or a school of podiatric medicine
(as such terms are defined in section 799B); or
``(B) a school of nursing (as such term is defined
in section 801).
``(e) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section,
there are authorized to be appropriated--
``(1) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2010; and
``(2) such sums as may be necessary for fiscal years 2011
through 2014.''.
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