The Opioid Crisis Response Act, which the Senate passed on a 99 to 1 vote Sept. 17, includes several health IT provisions, as laid out in the Politico Morning eHealth newsletter.
Here are three health IT provisions included in the package:
1. EHRs. The bill proposes HHS add substance abuse information to the EHR should the patient OK it. Another provisions would allow CMS' innovation center to test payment models to incentivize EHR adoption among behavioral health providers. Lastly, the bill seeks to clarify the types of information that can be shared in medical emergencies under HIPAA.
2. Prescription drug monitoring programs. Under the bill, PDMPs would be allowed to share data with state public health agencies and licensing boards. The bill would also authorize an HHS grant program aimed at improving PDMP interoperability between states, and it proposes giving state Medicaid agencies access PDMP data.
3. Telemedicine. The bill aims to clarify the Drug Enforcement Administration's authority to allow qualified providers to use telemedicine to prescribe controlled substances. It also seeks to scrap Medicare's originating site requirements for telehealth services when treating patients with substance abuse disorders.