Integrated Electronic Health Records (iEHR) for Military and Veterans Act - Directs the Secretaries of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to jointly carry out a program to award a cash prize ($50 million) and contract to an entity that develops a fully-integrated electronic health records program for national use by DOD and VA. Directs the Secretaries to: (1) widely advertise the prize competitions and announce each one in the Federal Register, and (2) create a joint panel to establish criteria for the program's development. Requires the prize recipient to be awarded a contract with DOD and VA to provide the program, including maintenance and support, and to be compensated at $25 million per year for five years. Reverts to the federal government, after such period, any intellectual property developed under the contract.
Authorizes the Secretaries to require competition participants to waive claims against the federal government (except for willful conduct) arising from such participation, and requires participants to obtain liability insurance therefor.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2055 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2055
To establish a prize program to award a prize and contract for the
development of a fully-integrated electronic health records program for
use by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 20, 2013
Mr. Roe of Tennessee (for himself, Mr. Denham, Mr. Flores, Mr. Bishop
of New York, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois, and Mr.
Thompson of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 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
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a prize program to award a prize and contract for the
development of a fully-integrated electronic health records program for
use by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans
Affairs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Integrated Electronic Health Records
(iEHR) for Military and Veterans Act''.
SEC. 2. PRIZE PROGRAM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FULLY-INTEGRATED
ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS PROGRAM FOR USE BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS.
(a) Prize Authority.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs shall jointly carry out a program to award
a cash prize in the amount of $50,000,000 and contract to an
entity that develops a fully-integrated electronic health
records program for national use by the Department of Defense
and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(2) Advertising and solicitation of competitors.--
(A) Advertising.--The Secretaries shall widely
advertise prize competitions under this section to
encourage broad participation by researchers, large and
small businesses, institutions of higher education, and
any other qualified applicants, including veterans.
(B) Announcement through federal register notice.--
The Secretaries shall announce each prize competition
under this section by publishing a notice in the
Federal Register. This notice shall include essential
elements of the competition such as the subject of the
competition, the duration of the competition, the
eligibility requirements for participation in the
competition, the process for participants to register
for the competition, the amount of the prize, and the
criteria for awarding the prize and contract.
(3) Announcement of prizes.--The Secretary may not issue a
notice required by paragraph (2)(B) until all the funds needed
to pay out the announced amount of the prize have been
appropriated.
(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to win a prize under this section,
an individual or entity--
(1) shall have complied with all the requirements in
accordance with the Federal Register notice required under
subsection (a)(2)(B);
(2) in the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated
in and maintain a primary place of business in the United
States, and in the case of an individual, whether participating
singly or in a group, shall be a citizen of, or an alien
lawfully admitted for permanent residence in, the United
States; and
(3) shall not be a Federal entity, a Federal employee
acting within the scope of his employment, or an employee of a
national laboratory acting within the scope of his employment.
(c) Joint Panel.--
(1) Establishment.--The Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish a joint panel to
establish the criteria for the development of a fully-
integrated electronic health records program eligible for an
award and contract under this section to ensure that the
program meets the requirements of the Department of Defense and
the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(2) Membership.--
(A) In general.--The members of the joint panel
shall be--
(i) one physician from each of the military
departments, to be appointed by the Secretary
of the military department concerned;
(ii) two physicians employed by the
Department of Veterans Affairs, to be appointed
by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and
(iii) two representatives of the Veterans
Benefits Administration of the Department of
Veterans Affairs, to be appointed by the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
(B) Deadline for appointment.--Members of the joint
panel shall be appointed by not later than 14 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act. Any member
who is not appointed by such deadline shall not be
appointed to the panel.
(3) Deadline for criteria.--The joint panel shall establish
criteria with sufficient specificity for development, taking
best practices of private and public electronic health records
under consideration. If the panel fails to agree on such
criteria or if an insufficient number of members are appointed
to the panel before the deadline under paragraph (2)(B), the
National Health Information Technology Coordinator shall
determine such criteria, taking best practices of private and
public electronic health record systems into consideration.
(d) Deadline for Submissions.--The deadline for the submission of
an application to participate in the competition under this section is
the date that is one year after the date on which the criteria are
established under subsection (c), or if such date falls on a weekend,
the next weekday following such date.
(e) Award Selection.--The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs shall award prizes under this section on the basis of
the criteria published in the notice required under subsection
(a)(2)(B).
(f) Contract.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
entity that is awarded a prize under this section shall be awarded a
contract with the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans
Affairs to provide the fully-integrated electronic health records
program for which the prize is awarded to the Departments and to
provide maintenance and support for such program for a five-year period
and under such contract shall be compensated in an amount of
$25,000,000 for each year.
(g) Intellectual Property.--
(1) Treatment of winning intellectual property.--Upon the
expiration of the contract referred to in subsection (e) the
intellectual property rights in the fully-integrated electronic
health records program for which a prize is awarded under this
section shall revert to the Federal Government. The entity that
is awarded a prize under this section shall retain the
intellectual property rights in any upgrades to the program
developed by the entity.
(2) Other intellectual property.--Except as provided in
paragraph (1), the Federal Government shall not, by virtue of
offering or awarding a prize under this section, be entitled to
any intellectual property rights derived as a consequence of,
or direct relation to, the participation by a registered
participant in a competition authorized by this section. This
subsection shall not be construed to prevent the Federal
Government from negotiating a license for the use of
intellectual property developed for a prize competition under
this section.
(h) Liability.--
(1) Waiver of liability.--The Secretary of Defense and the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs may require registered
participants to waive claims against the Federal Government
(except claims for willful misconduct) for any injury, death,
damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits arising from
the registered participants' participation in a competition
under this section. The Secretary shall give notice of any
waiver required under this paragraph in the notice required by
subsection (a)(2)(B).
(2) Liability insurance.--
(A) Requirements.--Registered participants in a
prize competition under this section shall be required
to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial
responsibility, in amounts determined by the Secretary,
for claims by--
(i) a third party for death, bodily injury,
or property damage or loss resulting from an
activity carried out in connection with
participation in a competition under this
section; and
(ii) the Federal Government for damage or
loss to Government property resulting from such
an activity.
(B) Federal government insured.--The Federal
Government shall be named as an additional insured
under a registered participant's insurance policy
required under subparagraph (A) with respect to claims
described in clause (i) of that subparagraph, and
registered participants shall be required to agree to
indemnify the Federal Government against third party
claims for damages arising from or related to
competition activities under this section.
(i) Nonsubstitution.--The programs created under this section shall
not be considered a substitute for Federal research and development
programs.
(j) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated $50,000,000 to carry out this section.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 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.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, 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.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
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