ECHO 2019 Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1618 To amend the Public Health Service Act to expand the capacity to improve health outcomes and increase access to specialized care. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 22, 2019 Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. KAINE, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) 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 expand the capacity to improve health outcomes and increase access to specialized care. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Expanding Capacity 4 for Health Outcomes Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘ECHO 2019 5 Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1618.IS S1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1618 IS SEC. 2. EXPANDING CAPACITY FOR HEALTH OUTCOMES. 1 Title III of the Public Health Service Act is amended 2 by inserting after section 399I (42 U.S.C. 280f–1) the fol- 3 lowing: 4 ‘‘SEC. 399I-1. EXPANDING CAPACITY FOR HEALTH OUT- 5 COMES. 6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en- 8 tity’ means an entity providing health care services 9 in rural areas, frontier areas, health professional 10 shortage areas, or medically underserved areas, or to 11 medically underserved populations or Native Ameri- 12 cans, including Indian tribes or tribal organizations. 13 ‘‘(2) HEALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE 14 AREA.—The term ‘health professional shortage area’ 15 means a health professional shortage area des- 16 ignated under section 332. 17 ‘‘(3) INDIAN TRIBES AND TRIBAL ORGANIZA- 18 TIONS.—The terms ‘Indian tribes’ and ‘tribal orga- 19 nizations’ have the meaning given such terms in sec- 20 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu- 21 cation Assistance Act. 22 ‘‘(4) MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED POPU- 23 LATION.—The term ‘medically underserved popu- 24 lation’ has the meaning given the term in section 25 330(b)(3). 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1618.IS S1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1618 IS ‘‘(5) NATIVE AMERICANS.—The term ‘Native 1 Americans’ has the meaning given the term in sec- 2 tion 736 and includes Indian tribes and tribal orga- 3 nizations. 4 ‘‘(6) TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED COLLABORATIVE 5 LEARNING AND CAPACITY BUILDING MODEL.—The 6 term ‘technology-enabled collaborative learning and 7 capacity building model’ means a distance health 8 education model that connects specialists with mul- 9 tiple other health care professionals through simulta- 10 neous interactive videoconferencing for the purpose 11 of facilitating case-based learning, disseminating 12 best practices, and evaluating outcomes. 13 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.—The Secretary shall, 14 as appropriate, award grants to evaluate, develop, and, as 15 appropriate, expand the use of technology-enabled collabo- 16 rative learning and capacity building models, to increase 17 access to health care services, such as those to address 18 chronic diseases and conditions, mental health, substance 19 use disorders, prenatal and maternal health, pediatric 20 care, pain management, palliative care, and other specialty 21 care in medically underserved areas and for medically un- 22 derserved populations. 23 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—Grants awarded under sub- 24 section (b) shall, as appropriate, be used for— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1618.IS S1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1618 IS ‘‘(1) equipment to support the use and expan- 1 sion of technology-enabled collaborative learning and 2 capacity building models, including for hardware and 3 software that enables distance learning, health care 4 provider support, and the secure exchange of elec- 5 tronic health information; 6 ‘‘(2) support for health care providers and other 7 professionals that provide or assist in the provision 8 of services through such models; 9 ‘‘(3) the development and acquisition of instruc- 10 tional programming, and the training of health care 11 providers and other professionals that provide or as- 12 sist in the provision of services through such models; 13 ‘‘(4) information collection and evaluation ac- 14 tivities to study the impact of such models on pa- 15 tient outcomes and health care providers, and to 16 identify best practices for the expansion and use of 17 such models; and 18 ‘‘(5) other activities consistent with achieving 19 the objectives of the grants awarded under this sec- 20 tion, as determined by the Secretary. 21 ‘‘(d) LENGTH OF GRANTS.—Grants awarded under 22 subsection (b) shall be for a period of up to 5 years. 23 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION.—An eligible entity that seeks to 24 receive a grant under subsection (b) shall submit to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1618.IS S1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1618 IS Secretary an application, at such time, in such manner, 1 and containing such information as the Secretary may re- 2 quire. Such application criteria shall include an evaluation 3 of patient outcomes and health care providers resulting 4 from technology-enabled collaborative learning and capac- 5 ity building models. 6 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall 7 provide (either directly through the Department of Health 8 and Human Services or by contract) technical assistance 9 to eligible entities, including recipients of grants under 10 subsection (b), on the development, use, and evaluation 11 of technology-enabled collaborative learning and capacity 12 building models in order to expand access to health care 13 services provided by such entities, including for medically 14 underserved areas and to medically underserved popu- 15 lations. 16 ‘‘(g) REPORT BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 4 17 years after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- 18 retary shall prepare and submit to the Committee on 19 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, 20 and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 21 House of Representatives, and post on the internet website 22 of the Department of Health and Human Services, a re- 23 port including, at minimum— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1618.IS S1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1618 IS ‘‘(1) a description of any new and continuing 1 grants awarded to entities under subsection (b) and 2 the specific purpose and amounts of such grants; 3 ‘‘(2) an overview of— 4 ‘‘(A) the evaluations conducted under sub- 5 sections (b) or (f); and 6 ‘‘(B) technical assistance provided under 7 subsection (f); and 8 ‘‘(3) a description of any significant findings or 9 developments in patient outcomes and health care 10 providers and best practices for eligible entities ex- 11 panding, using, or evaluating technology-enabled col- 12 laborative learning and capacity building models. 13 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 14 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 15 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:59 May 31, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1618.IS S1618 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS