The Senate Finance Committee today released the draft of a jobs bill that that removes a ban against physicians in hospital-based outpatient clinics from participating in the health IT incentives in the HITECH Act.
Among its proposals, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act would allow physicians who practice in outpatient or walk-in clinics associated with a hospital to qualify for the Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments if they become “meaningful users” of health IT.
The release of the draft legislation is the first step in the Senate process for considering proposals to spur jobs across the economy, according to committee leaders. The House has already passed a jobs stimulus bill.
Previously, physicians working in hospital environments were not eligible for the incentives because the HITECH Act said they depend “substantially” on a hospital’s “facilities and equipment, including qualified electronic health records.”
Under the proposed legislation, physicians serving in in inpatient and emergency room practices within hospital systems may still not qualify for the incentives.
Upon passage of the legislation, these changes woulhd become “effective as if included in the enactment of the HITECH Act,” according to the draft legislation.
Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking Republican committee member, published the proposed bill in the interest of “transparency and open government.”
“It is especially important that all members and the public have sufficient time – at least 72 hours – to review and comment on this package before the Senate begins voting on the bill because it has not gone through the regular committee process,” the senators said in a statement.
source: https://www.govhealthit.com/
For more details, visit:
https://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/leg/LEG%202010/021010%20HIREACT%20draft.pdf