Portman, Whitehouse Introduce Bill to Help Behavioral Health Care Providers Adopt Electronic Health Records

Press Release

Today, U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) introduced legislation to help behavioral health care providers -- like psychologists and psychiatric hospitals -- adopt electronic health records. The bill would extend federal incentives to adopt electronic health technology to behavioral health care providers, improving the coordination and quality of care for Americans with mental health, addiction, and other behavioral health care needs.

"This common-sense bill would improve care for those receiving mental health and substance abuse treatment. And it would help bring our behavioral health system in line with physician health care by enabling the same incentives for substance use and behavioral health providers that other medical professionals have received," said Portman.

"Good care for people fighting addiction or mental illness takes up-to-date information on a patient, just like any other kind of care," said Whitehouse. "Right now, federal incentives to adopt electronic health records and better coordinate care don't go to most behavioral health providers. This bill would help fix that, helping the behavioral health community connect better with physical health doctors to get better results for patients. Thank you to Senator Portman for joining me on this bill. It's an example of the smart, bipartisan work Congress can do to improve our health care system."

Since 2011, the federal government has distributed more than $37 billion in incentive payments to health care providers to adopt electronic health records. However, psychologists, community mental health centers, psychiatric hospitals, and others that specialize in treating addiction and mental health conditions do not qualify for this funding. This has contributed to a substantial gap in the rates of adoption of health information technology between providers that qualify for federal electronic health record programs and those that do not, like behavioral health providers.

Portman and Whitehouse's Improving Access to Behavioral Health Information Technology Act would authorize the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center to implement a demonstration program that provides incentive payments for adopting electronic health records to behavioral health care providers.

"As efforts to prevent and treat addiction and mental illness intensify in Ohio, providers are making every effort to modernize record keeping so that they can better coordinate services with emergency rooms, hospitals, and primary care," said Lori Criss, CEO of The Ohio Council of Behavioral Health & Family Services Providers. "Electronic records also further efforts to ensure quality care, monitor patient outcomes, and understand the value of behavioral healthcare. This legislation introduced by Senator Portman today will provide specialty behavioral health providers with the same incentives that healthcare providers received almost a decade ago to ensure that they can operate in environment of information sharing and accountability to benefit patients."

The House has introduced companion legislation, sponsored by Congresswomen Lynn Jenkins (R-KS) and Doris Matsui (D-CA), to authorize CMS Innovation Center incentive payments to behavioral health providers.

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