Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 87.djvu/966

 934

PUBLIC LAW 93-222-DEC. 29, 1973

[87

STAT.

" P A R T K — Q U A L I T Y AssuRAXtE " Q U A L I T Y ASSURANCE R e s e a r c h and evaluation programs.

81 Stat. 534. 42 USC 242b. Appropriation.

Annual report to President and Congress.

Review.

Comments, s u b mittal to Secretary of HEW and Congress.

"SEC. 399C. (a)(1) The Secretary, through the Assistant Secretary for Health, shall conduct research and evaluation programs respecting the effectiveness, administration, and eiiforcement of quality assurance programs. Such research and evaluation programs shall be carried out in cooperation with the entity within the Department which administers the programs of assistance under section 804. "(2) For the purpose of carrying out paragraph (1), there are authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974, $8,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1975, $9,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1976, $9,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1977, and $10,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1978. "(b) The Secretary shall make an annual report to the Congress and the President on (1) the quality of health care in the United States, (2) the operation of quality assurance programs, and (3) advances made through research and evaluation of the effectiveness, administration, and enforcement of quality assurance programs. The first annual report under this subsection shall be made with respect to calendar year 1974 and shall be submitted not later than March 1, 197;). The Office of Management and l^udget may review the Secretary's report under this subsection before its submission to the Congress, but the Office may not revise the report or delay its submission to the Congress, and it may submit to the Secretary and the Congress its comments (and those of other departments and agencies of the Go\ernment) with respect to such lepoit." H E A L T H CARE Q U A L I T Y ASSURANCE PROGRAMS STIT)Y

Contract authority.

Contract with nonprofit private organization.

SEC. 4. (a) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall contract, in accordance with subsection (b), for the conduct of a study to— (1) analyze past and present mechanisms (both required by law and voluntary) to assure the quality of health care, identify the strengths and weaknesses of current major prototypes of health care quality assurance systems, and identify on a compaI'able basis the costs of such prototypes; (2) provide a set of basic principles to be followed by any effective health care quality assurance system, including principles affecting the scope of the system, methods for assessing care, data requirements, specifications for the development of criteria and standards which relate to desired outcomes of care, and means for assessing the responsiveness of such care to the needs and perceptions of the consumers of such care; (3) provide an assessment of programs for improving the performance of health practitioners and institutions in providing high-quality health care, including a study of the effectiveness of sanctions and educational programs; (4) define the specific needs for a program of research and evaluation in health care quality assurance methods, including the design of prospective evaluations protocols for health care quality assurance systems; and (5) provide methods for assessing the quality of health care from the point of view of consumers of such care. (b) The Secretary shall contract for the conduct of the study required by subsection (a) with a nonprofit private organization which—

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