Title 42The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-73

§1320a Uniform reporting systems for health services facilities and organizations

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 7— - SOCIAL SECURITY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER XI— - GENERAL PROVISIONS, PEER REVIEW, AND ADMINISTRATIVE SIMPLIFICATION › Part Part A— - General Provisions › § 1320a

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must create standard reporting rules for each kind of health provider that can be paid under this law, like hospitals, skilled nursing and intermediate care facilities, home health agencies, and HMOs. Each provider must report things like total costs and total service volume; costs and volumes broken down by function; rates by type of patient and by who is paying; capital assets (including funds, debt service, leases, and the value of land, buildings, and equipment); and discharge and billing data. The Secretary must watch how these reporting systems work, help fund and test demonstrations and evaluations, encourage States to use them, and update the systems over time to make them more effective and less costly. The Secretary must also give the collected information, in a useful form, to appropriate agencies and organizations (for example, health systems agencies and State health planning agencies).

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §1320a

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)For the purposes of reporting the cost of services provided by, of planning, and of measuring and comparing the efficiency of and effective use of services in, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, home health agencies, health maintenance organizations, and other types of health services facilities and organizations to which payment may be made under this chapter, the Secretary shall establish by regulation, for each such type of health services facility or organization, a uniform system for the reporting by a facility or organization of that type of the following information:
(1)The aggregate cost of operation and the aggregate volume of services.
(2)The costs and volume of services for various functional accounts and subaccounts.
(3)Rates, by category of patient and class of purchaser.
(4)Capital assets, as defined by the Secretary, including (as appropriate) capital funds, debt service, lease agreements used in lieu of capital funds, and the value of land, facilities, and equipment.
(5)Discharge and bill data.
(b)The Secretary shall—
(1)monitor the operation of the systems established under subsection (a);
(2)assist with and support demonstrations and evaluations of the effectiveness and cost of the operation of such systems and encourage State adoption of such systems; and
(3)periodically revise such systems to improve their effectiveness and diminish their cost.
(c)The Secretary shall provide information obtained through use of the uniform reporting systems described in subsection (a) in a useful manner and format to appropriate agencies and organizations, including health systems agencies (designated under section 300l–4 11 See References in Text note below. of this title) and State health planning and development agencies (designated under section 300m 1 of this title), as may be necessary to carry out such agencies’ and organizations’ functions.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

section 300l–4 of this title, referred to in subsec. (c), was repealed effective Jan. 1, 1987, by Pub. L. 99–660, title VII, § 701(a), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3799. section 300m of this title, referred to in subsec. (c), was in the original a reference to section 1521 of act
July 1, 1944, which was repealed effective Jan. 1, 1987, by Pub. L. 99–660, title VII, § 701(a), Nov. 14, 1986, 100 Stat. 3799. Pub. L. 101–354, § 2, Aug. 10, 1990, 104 Stat. 410, enacted section 1503 of act
July 1, 1944, which is classified to section 300m of this title.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 1320a, act Aug. 14, 1935, ch. 531, title XI, § 1121, as added Jan. 2, 1968, Pub. L. 90–248, title II, § 250(a), 81 Stat. 920, provided for assistance in the form of institutional services in intermediate care facilities, the subsecs. providing as follows: subsec. (a), modification of certain plans to include such benefit; subsec. (b), eligible individuals; subsec. (c), payments and Federal medical assistance percentage; subsec. (d), conditions, limitations, rights, and obligations applicable to modified plans; and subsec. (e), definition of “intermediate care facility”, which is covered in section 1396d(c) of this title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 92–223, § 4(c), Dec. 28, 1971, 85 Stat. 810. Section was additionally amended by Pub. L. 92–603, title II, § 278(a)(24), Oct. 30, 1972, 86 Stat. 1453, without reference to the earlier repeal of this section by Pub. L. 92–223.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Time Periods for Establishment of Uniform Reporting Systems; Consultations With Interested Parties Pub. L. 95–142, § 19(c)(1), Oct. 25, 1977, 91 Stat. 1205, directed Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to establish the systems described in subsec. (a) of this section only after consultation with interested parties and for hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and intermediate care facilities, not later than the end of the one year period beginning on Oct. 25, 1977, and for other types of health services facilities and organizations, not later than the end of the two-year period beginning on Oct. 25, 1977.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 1320a

Title 42The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73