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HR 6598 112th Congress House

Electronic Health Records Improvement Act

Official title: To amend certain requirements and penalties implemented under the Medicare and Medicaid programs by the HITECH Act of 2009, which would otherwise impede eligib… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: To amend certain requirements and penalties implemented under the Medicare and Medicaid programs by the HITECH Act of 2009, which would otherwise impede eligible professionals from adopting electronic health records to improve patient care.

Introduced: December 4, 2012 See on congress.gov
Health Administrative law and regulatory proceduresAdministrative remediesComputers and information technologyCongressional oversight
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Department of Health and Human ServicesHealth care costs and insuranceHealth information and medical recordsHealth personnelHome and outpatient careLicensing and registrationsMedicaidMedicarePrescription drugsRural conditions and developmentSurgery and anesthesia
This bill died when the 112th Congress ended
It never became law before the 112th Congress (2011–2012) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Nov 16, 2012
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Nov 16, 2012
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Nov 16, 2012
Introduced in House
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 Latest action November 16, 2012

Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Electronic Health Records Improvement Act - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to exempt certain eligible physicians in solo practice and physicians near early retirement age from the application of the Medicare payment adjustment for not demonstrating electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use for certain payment years.

Establishes a special rebate for eligible professionals who receive a negative adjustment to their payments for failure to establish an EHR process but subsequently do establish a process meeting the criteria for establishing meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

Creates specified additional exceptions to the application of the Medicare negative payment adjustment for certain Medicaid providers participating in the Medicaid EHR incentive program and hospital-based eligible professionals not demonstrating EHR meaningful use.

Requires treatment of an eligible professional as a meaningful EHR user if the professional demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) use of a certified national specialty registry system in a meaningful manner.

Extends: (1) Medicare EHR incentives (increased payments and adjustments) to eligible professionals practicing in rural health clinics, and (2) Medicare Electronic Prescribing (ERx) and quality reporting incentives to rural health clinics.

Disqualifies patient encounters of an eligible professional occurring at an ambulatory surgical center during certain performance years from treatment as a patient encounter in determining whether an eligible professional qualifies as a meaningful EHR user.

Exempts certain eligible professionals from certain EHR meaningful use requirements for purposes of the Medicare payment adjustment.

Creates a process for eligible professionals to appeal a determination that they did not qualify as a meaningful EHR user.

Amends SSA titles XVIII and XIX (Medicaid) to make certain requirements of the Electronic Health Records Act inapplicable to eligible professional Medicare incentives for certain Medicare Advantage organizations and professionals employed by them or furnishing services in them.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 3
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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 6598: Electronic Health Records Improvement Act. 112th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/112-HR-6598/
MLA
"H.R. 6598: Electronic Health Records Improvement Act." 112th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/112-HR-6598/.
Bluebook (legal)
H.R. 6598, 112th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/112-HR-6598/.
Markdown link
[H.R. 6598: Electronic Health Records Improvement Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/112-HR-6598/)
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