§17903 Study and reports

Summary

The Secretary of Health and Human Services must send a report to the proper House and Senate committees no later than 2 years after February 17, 2009, and every year after that. The report must say what the federal government and private groups have done to create a nationwide electronic health information system, what stops that system from being adopted, and ideas to finish it. The Secretary must also do or hire two studies and report their results to the same congressional committees. One study looks at ways to pay Federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, and free clinics so they improve care quality (report due within 2 years after February 17, 2009). The other study looks at using new “aging services technology” to help seniors, people with disabilities, and their caregivers. That study must evaluate how to find useful technologies, how to encourage innovation (including ideas from other countries), and what barriers exist and how to remove them. The aging services technology term means health technology for seniors, people with disabilities, and their caregivers, and the Secretary will define “senior.”