On May 8, 2018, the Senate passed S. 1732, a bipartisan bill giving CMS the authority to offer incentive payments to “behavioral health providers” who implement certified electronic health records. The bill, titled, “Improving Access to Behavioral Health Information Technology Act” (the Act) is intended to help align the incentives available to physicians through the original Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive program with those available to behavioral health providers.

The Act defines behavioral health providers to include psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, and certain other provider types that participate in a state plan under Title XIX of the Social Security Act or a waiver of such plan.

The Act now heads to the House where it will be reconciled with similar legislation. The full text of the Act is available here.