[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2688 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2688

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to extend health information 
technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, 
    and substance abuse professionals and facilities, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 27, 2023

Mr. Mullin (for himself and Ms. Cortez Masto) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to extend health information 
technology assistance eligibility to behavioral health, mental health, 
    and substance abuse professionals and facilities, 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 ``Behavioral Health Information 
Technology Coordination Act''.

SEC. 2. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GRANTS.

    Subtitle B of title XXX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300jj-31 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 3019. BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY GRANTS.

    ``(a) Grants.--
            ``(1) In general.--The National Coordinator shall award 
        grants to eligible behavioral health care providers to promote 
        behavioral health integration and improve care coordination for 
        persons with mental health and substance use disorders.
            ``(2) NOFO.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
        enactment of the Behavioral Health Information Technology 
        Coordination Act, the National Coordinator shall publish a 
        Notice of Funding Opportunity for the grants described in 
        paragraph (1).
    ``(b) Geographic Distribution.--In making grants under subsection 
(a), the National Coordinator shall--
            ``(1) to the maximum extent practicable, ensure an 
        equitable geographical distribution of grant recipients 
        throughout the United States; and
            ``(2) give due consideration to applicants from both urban 
        and rural areas.
    ``(c) Eligible Providers.--To be eligible to receive a grant under 
subsection (a), a behavioral health care provider shall be--
            ``(1) a physician (as defined in section 1861(r)(1) of the 
        Social Security Act) who specializes in psychiatry or addiction 
        medicine;
            ``(2) a clinical psychologist providing qualified 
        psychologist services (as defined in section 1861(ii) of such 
        Act);
            ``(3) a nurse practitioner (as defined in 
        section1861(aa)(5)(A) of such Act) with respect to the 
        provision of psychiatric services;
            ``(4) a clinical social worker (as defined in 
        section1861(hh)(1) of such Act);
            ``(5) a psychiatric hospital (as defined in section 1861(f) 
        of such Act);
            ``(6) a community mental health center that meets the 
        criteria specified in section 1913(c); or
            ``(7) a residential or outpatient mental health or 
        substance abuse treatment facility.
    ``(d) Program Requirements.--An eligible behavioral health care 
provider receiving a grant under subsection (a) shall use the grant 
funds--
            ``(1) to purchase or upgrade health information technology 
        software and support services needed to appropriately provide 
        behavioral health care services and, where feasible, facilitate 
        behavioral health integration;
            ``(2) to demonstrate (through a process specified by the 
        Secretary, such as the use of attestation) that the eligible 
        behavioral health care provider has acquired health information 
        technology that meets the certification criteria described in 
        the final rule of the Office of the National Coordinator for 
        Health Information Technology of the Department of Health and 
        Human Services entitled `2015 Edition Health Information 
        Technology (Health IT) Certification Criteria, 2015 Edition 
        Base Electronic Health Record (EHR) Definition, and ONC Health 
        IT Certification Program Modifications' (80 Fed. Reg. 62602 
        (October 16, 2015)) (or successor criteria);
            ``(3) to ensure that such health information technology is 
        fully compliant with the regulations specified in the final 
        rule of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services entitled 
        `Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Patient Protection and 
        Affordable Care Act; Interoperability and Patient Access for 
        Medicare Advantage Organization and Medicaid Managed Care 
        Plans, State Medicaid Agencies, CHIP Agencies and CHIP Managed 
        Care Entities, Issuers of Qualified Health Plans on the 
        Federally-Facilitated Exchanges, and Health Care Providers' (85 
        Fed. Reg. 25510 (May 1, 2020)), including by demonstrating the 
        capacity to exchange patient clinical data with primary care 
        physicians, medical specialty providers and acute care 
        hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and hospital emergency 
        departments; and
            ``(4) to promote, where feasible, the implementation and 
        improvement of bidirectional integrated services, including 
        evidence-informed screening, assessment, diagnosis, prevention, 
        treatment, recovery, and coordinated discharge planning 
        services for mental health and substance use disorders, and co-
        occurring physical health conditions and chronic diseases.
    ``(e) Applications.--An eligible behavioral health care provider 
seeking a grant under subsection (a) shall submit an application to the 
Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information 
as the Secretary may require.
    ``(f) Grant Amounts.--The amount of a grant under subsection (a) 
shall be not more than $2,000,000.
    ``(g) Duration.--A grant under subsection (a) shall be for a period 
of not more than 2 years.
    ``(h) Reporting on Program Outcomes.--Not later than 2 years after 
the date of enactment of the Behavioral Health Information Technology 
Coordination Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 
to Congress a report that describes the implementation of the grant 
program under this section, including--
            ``(1) information on the number and type of behavioral 
        health care providers that have acquired and implemented 
        certified health information technology described in section 
        3001(c)(5)(C)(iv), including a description of any advances or 
        challenges related to such acquisition and implementation;
            ``(2) information on the number and type of behavioral 
        health care providers that received a grant under this section;
            ``(3) information on whether the number of, and rate of 
        participation by, eligible behavioral health care providers, 
        including behavioral health care providers that received a 
        grant under this section, participating in Medicare and 
        Medicaid under a value based or capitated payment arrangement 
        has increased during the grant program;
            ``(4) the extent to which eligible behavioral health care 
        providers that received a grant under this section are able to 
        electronically exchange patient health information with local 
        partners, including primary care physicians, medical specialty 
        providers and acute care hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, 
        hospital emergency departments, health information exchanges, 
        Medicare Advantage plans under part C of title XVIII of the 
        Social Security Act, medicaid managed care organizations (as 
        defined in section 1903(m)(1)(A) of such Act), and related 
        entities;
            ``(5) the extent to which eligible behavioral health care 
        providers that received a grant under this section are 
        measuring and electronically reporting patient clinical and 
        non-clinical outcomes using common quality-reporting metrics 
        established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 
        such as the child and adult health quality measures published 
        under sections 1139A and 1139B of the Social Security Act and 
        quality measures under section 1848(q) of such Act; and
            ``(6) evaluation of the impact and effectiveness of grants 
        under this section on advancing access to care, quality of 
        care, interoperable exchange of patient health information 
        between behavioral health and medical health providers, and 
        recommendations on how to use health information technology to 
        improve such outcomes.
    ``(i) Guidance.--The Secretary shall require the Administrator of 
the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Assistant Secretary 
for Mental Health and Substance Use, and the National Coordinator to 
develop joint guidance on how States can use Medicaid authorities and 
funding sources (including waiver authority under section 1115 of the 
Social Security Act, directed payments, enhanced Federal matching rates 
for certain expenditures, Federal funding for technical assistance, and 
payment and service delivery models tested by the Center for Medicare 
and Medicaid Innovation under section 1115A of the Social Security Act 
and other Federal resources to promote the adoption and 
interoperability of certified health information technology described 
in section 3001(c)(5)(C)(iv).
    ``(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2025 through 2029.''.

SEC. 3. VOLUNTARY STANDARDS FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INFORMATION 
              TECHNOLOGY.

     Section 3001(c)(5)(C) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300jj-11(c)(5)(C)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
                            ``(iv) Voluntary standards for behavioral 
                        health information technology.--
                                    ``(I) In general.--Not later than 1 
                                year after the date of enactment of the 
                                Behavioral Health Information 
                                Technology Coordination Act, the 
                                National Coordinator and the Assistant 
                                Secretary for Mental Health and 
                                Substance Use, acting jointly, in 
                                consultation with appropriate 
                                stakeholders, shall develop 
                                recommendations for the voluntary 
                                certification of health information 
                                technology for behavioral health care 
                                that does not include a separate 
                                certification program for behavioral 
                                health care and practice settings.
                                    ``(II) Considerations.--The 
                                recommendations under subclause (I) 
                                shall take into consideration issues 
                                such as privacy, minimum clinical data 
                                standards, and sharing relevant patient 
                                health data across the behavioral 
                                health care, primary health care, and 
                                specialty health care systems.''.
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