42 U.S.C. § 17912: Research and development programs

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in consultation with the Director of the National Science Foundation and other appropriate Federal agencies, shall establish a program of assistance to institutions of higher education (or consortia thereof which may include nonprofit entities and Federal Government laboratories) to establish multidisciplinary Centers for Health Care Information Enterprise Integration. Grants shall be awarded under this subsection on a merit-reviewed, competitive basis. to generate innovative approaches to health care information enterprise integration by conducting cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research on the systems challenges to health care delivery; and the development and use of health information technologies and other complementary fields. interfaces between human information and communications technology systems; voice-recognition systems; software that improves interoperability and connectivity among health information systems; software dependability in systems critical to health care delivery; measurement of the impact of information technologies on the quality and productivity of health care; health information enterprise management; health information technology security and integrity; and relevant health information technology to reduce medical errors. the research projects that will be undertaken by the Center established pursuant to assistance under paragraph (1) and the respective contributions of the participating entities; how the Center will promote active collaboration among scientists and engineers from different disciplines, such as information technology, biologic sciences, management, social sciences, and other appropriate disciplines; technology transfer activities to demonstrate and diffuse the research results, technologies, and knowledge; and how the Center will contribute to the education and training of researchers and other professionals in fields relevant to health information enterprise integration. The Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program established by section 5511 of title 15 shall include Federal research and development programs related to health information technology.