119-hr2936

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2936 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2936

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to allow certain public health 
 data modernization grants to be used to track hospital bed capacity, 
 and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 17, 2025

Mr. Joyce of Pennsylvania (for himself and Mrs. Dingell) introduced the 
 following bill; which was 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

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Public Health Service Act to allow certain public health 
 data modernization grants to be used to track hospital bed capacity, 
 and for other purposes.

 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 ``Addressing Boarding and Crowding in 
the Emergency Department Act of 2025'' or the ``ABC-ED Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. ALLOWING PUBLIC HEALTH DATA MODERNIZATION GRANTS TO BE USED TO 
 TRACK HOSPITAL BED CAPACITY.

 

Section 2823

    (a)

    (1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 
300hh-33

    (a)

    (1) ) is amended--

    (1) in subparagraph
        (A) , by striking ``and'' at the end;

    (2) in subparagraph
        (B)
            (viii) , by striking the period at 
 the end and inserting ``; and''; and

    (3) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (C) award grants or cooperative agreements to 
 appropriate entities for the expansion and 
 modernization of public health data systems by--
 ``
            (i) developing State- or region-wide, 
 real-time (or near real-time), accurate, and 
 scalable systems for tracking--
 ``
            (I) hospital bed capacity; and
 ``
            (II) how such capacity affects 
 emergency department boarding rates, 
 wait times for treatment in emergency 
 departments, and the amount of time 
 emergency medical services personnel 
 are waiting in emergency departments to 
 offload patients; and
 ``
            (ii) establishing or maintaining a 
 public-facing dashboard of the information 
 tracked pursuant to systems described in clause
            (i) , with such information redacted in 
 accordance with applicable privacy laws.''.

SEC. 3. CENTER FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID INNOVATION PILOT PROGRAM.

 

Section 1115A

    (b)

    (2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1315a

    (b)

    (2) ) is amended--

    (1) in subparagraph
        (A) , in the third sentence, by 
 inserting ``, and shall include the models described in clauses
            (xxviii) and
            (xxix) of such subparagraph'' before the period at 
 the end; and

    (2) in subparagraph
        (B) , by adding at the end the following 
 new clauses:
 ``
            (xxviii) Promoting research-based ways to 
 facilitate improved emergency care for 
 applicable individuals who are older adults, 
 including through--
 ``
            (I) sufficient, flexible, and 
 interdisciplinary staffing and 
 education of staff at emergency 
 departments;
 ``
            (II) changes to the physical 
 infrastructure of emergency 
 departments;
 ``
            (III) introducing geriatric-
 focused policies, protocols, and 
 quality improvement metrics; and
 ``
            (IV) improving coordination 
 between emergency departments and post-
 acute care facilities (including senior 
 care facilities such as skilled nursing 
 facilities, assisted living facilities, 
 and independent living facilities) with 
 respect to such individuals, which may 
 include the mutual, bidirectional 
 exchange of medical information and 
 improvements to the transfer process.
 ``
            (xxix) Promoting research-based ways to 
 facilitate improved emergency care for 
 applicable individuals experiencing acute 
 psychiatric crisis, including by--
 ``
            (I) implementing dedicated units 
 at emergency departments to provide 
 emergency care to such individuals; and
 ``
            (II) improving transfers between 
 emergency departments and post-acute 
 care facilities for such individuals, 
 which may include expedited placement 
 at such facilities.''.

SEC. 4. STUDY ON BEST PRACTICES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH DATA SYSTEMS FOR 
 TRACKING HOSPITAL CAPACITY.

    (a) In General.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct a study--

    (1) to determine best practices for the development and 
 maintenance of public health data systems for tracking hospital 
 capacity (including such systems supported pursuant to 

section 2823

    (a)

    (1) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by 
 

section 2) to ensure that such tracking--
        (A) is State- or region-wide, real-time (or near 
 real-time), accurate, and scalable;
        (B) includes tracking of hospital capacity with 
 respect to emergency departments, adult and pediatric 
 intensive care units, inpatient psychiatric services, 
 skilled nursing facilities, and other appropriate types 
 of facilities and services; and
            (C) is seamlessly and directly integrated with 
 relevant hospital electronic medical records systems; 
 and

    (2) to assess how implementation of such public health data 
 systems for tracking hospital capacity affects--
        (A) emergency department boarding rates as 
 determined using quality measures and other metrics 
 that are established and utilized by the Centers for 
 Medicare and Medicaid Services and others accreditation 
 entities;
        (B) wait times for treatment and discharge in 
 emergency departments; and
            (C) the amount of time emergency medical services 
 personnel are waiting in emergency departments to 
 offload patients.

    (b) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall--

    (1) complete the study under subsection

    (a) ; and

    (2) submit to the Congress a report on the results of such 
 study.
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