[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Page 13696]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 ELECTRONIC HEALTH FAIRNESS ACT OF 2015

  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 185, S. 1347.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 1347) 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.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, 
which had been reported from the Committee on Finance, with an 
amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu 
thereof the following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Electronic Health Fairness 
     Act of 2015''.

     SEC. 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) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (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.

     SEC. 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:
       ``(E) 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.''.

  Mr. GARDNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
committee-reported amendment be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be 
read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be 
considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The committee-reported amendment in the nature of a substitute was 
agreed to.
  The bill (S. 1347), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed.

                          ____________________