American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009/Division A/Title XIII/Subtitle B

Subtitle B—Testing of Health Information Technology

SEC. 13201. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY TESTING.

(a) Pilot Testing of Standards and Implementation Specifications.—

In coordination with the HIT Standards Committee established under section 3003 of the Public Health Service Act, as added by section 13101, with respect to the development of standards and implementation specifications under such section, the Director of the National Institute for Standards and Technology shall test such standards and implementation specifications, as appropriate, in order to assure the efficient implementation and use of such standards and implementation specifications.

(b) Voluntary Testing Program.—

In coordination with the HIT Standards Committee established under section 3003 of the Public Health Service Act, as added by section 13101, with respect to the development of standards and implementation specifications under such section, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall support the establishment of a conformance testing infrastructure, including the development of technical test beds. The development of this conformance testing infrastructure may include a program to accredit independent, non-Federal laboratories to perform testing.

SEC. 13202. RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS.

(a) Health Care Information Enterprise Integration Research Centers.—

(1) In General.—

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in consultation with the Director of the National Science Foundation and other appropriate Federal agencies, shall establish a program of assistance to institutions of higher education (or consortia thereof which may include nonprofit entities and Federal Government laboratories) to establish multidisciplinary Centers for Health Care Information Enterprise Integration.

(2) Review; competition.—

Grants shall be awarded under this subsection on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis.

(3) Purpose.—

The purposes of the Centers described in paragraph (1) shall be—

(A) to generate innovative approaches to health care information enterprise integration by conducting cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research on the systems challenges to health care delivery; and

(B) the development and use of health information technologies and other complementary fields.

(4) Research areas.—

Research areas may include—

(A) interfaces between human information and communications technology systems;

(B) voice-recognition systems;

(C) software that improves interoperability and connectivity among health information systems;

(D) software dependability in systems critical to health care delivery;

(E) measurement of the impact of information technologies on the quality and productivity of health care;

(F) health information enterprise management;

(G) health information technology security and integrity; and

(H) relevant health information technology to reduce medical errors.

(5) Applications.—

An institution of higher education (or a consortium thereof) seeking funding under this subsection shall submit an application to the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require. The application shall include, at a minimum, a description of—

(A) the research projects that will be undertaken by the Center established pursuant to assistance under paragraph (1) and the respective contributions of the participating entities;

(B) how the Center will promote active collaboration among scientists and engineers from different disciplines, such as information technology, biologic sciences, management, social sciences, and other appropriate disciplines;

(C) technology transfer activities to demonstrate and diffuse the research results, technologies, and knowledge; and

(D) how the Center will contribute to the education and training of researchers and other professionals in fields relevant to health information enterprise integration.

(b) National Information Technology Research and Development Program.—

The National High-Performance Computing Program established by section 101 of the High-Performance Computing Act of 1991 (15 U.S.C. 5511) shall include Federal research and development programs related to health information technology.