A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday seeks to extend meaningful use incentive payments to mental health treatment facilities, psychiatric hospitals and substance abuse treatment facilities.
The "Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act" was originally introduced in 2013 by Rep. Timothy Murphy (R-Pa.) and was reintroduced this week. It is co-sponsored by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas).
"Our clients are working tirelessly to integrate their services with the rest of healthcare to improve the health of all Americans, yet these providers are not fully eligible for valuable funding that would help them more effectively address the needs of those battling mental illness and addiction issues," said Mike Valentine, CEO of Netsmart, in a statement. Netsmart is a founding member of the Behavioral Health IT Coalition, a group advocating the extension of meaningful use incentive eligibility to behavioral health providers. "In order to 'treat the whole person,' these providers need to be put on a level playing field with hospitals and other primary care providers."
More articles on meaningful use:
2 common challenges to EHR integration for children's hospitals
Dr. John Halamka: 4 thoughts on MU, information blocking and interoperability
HIMSS comments on MU stage 3