42 U.S.C. § 299b–2 — Information on quality and cost of care

(a) In general (1) The Director must run a survey of a nationally representative sample of the population. Starting with fiscal year 2001, this survey must cover the cost of health care, how much people use it — including the kinds of services they use, their access to care, how often they use it, what they pay and who pays it, the type and cost of private health insurance — and quality, for the general population (including rural residents) and for the populations named in section 299(c). (2) The Director must build databases and tools that give states information on the quality, access, and use of health care their residents receive. (b) Quality and outcomes information (1) In general. Starting in fiscal year 2001, the survey in (a)(1) must: (A) Identify what drives health outcomes and how well people can function, including the health needs of the populations named in section 299(c); supply data to study how quality, outcomes, access, use, and cost relate to each other; track changes over time; and watch the overall national effect of federal and state policy changes on health care. (B) Give information on care quality and patient outcomes for common clinical conditions, for a nationally representative sample including rural residents. (C) Give reliable national estimates for children and people with special health care needs, using extra survey questions or periodic expansions. When the Director expands the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (as it existed on December 6, 1999) in fiscal year 2001 to collect quality information, the Director must take into account outcome measures already widely collected by private accrediting organizations. (2) Annual report. Starting in fiscal year 2003, the Secretary, through the Director, must send Congress a yearly report on national trends in the quality of health care Americans receive.