113 STAT. 1501A-350 PUBLIC LAW 106-113—APPENDIX F (d) EFFECTIVE DATE. —The amendments made by this section shall be effective in determining the conversion factor under section 1848(d) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4(d)) for years beginning with 2001 and shall not apply to or affect any update (or any update adjustment factor) for any year before 2001. SEC. 212. USE OF DATA COLLECTED BY ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTITIES IN DETERMINING PRACTICE EXPENSE RELATIVE VALUES. (a) IN GENERAL. — The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish by regulation (after notice and opportunity for public comment) a process (including data collection standards) under which the Secretary will accept for use and will use, to the maximum extent practicable and consistent with sound data practices, data collected or developed by entities and organizations (other than the Department of Health and Human Services) to supplement the data normally collected by that Department in determining the practice expense component under section 1848(c)(2)(C)(ii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4(c)(2)(C)(ii)) for purposes of determining relative values for payment for physicians' services under the fee schedule under section 1848 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4). The Secretary shall first promulgate such regulation on an interim final basis in a manner that permits the submission and use of data in the computation of practice expense relative value units for pa5anent rates for 2001. (b) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall include, in the publication of the estimated and final updates under section 1848(c) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4(c)) for payments for 2001 and for 2002, a description of the process established under subsection (a) for the use of external data in making adjustments in relative value units and the extent to which the Secretary has used such external data in making such adjustments for each such year, particularly in cases in which the data otherwise used are inadequate because such data are not based upon a large enough sample size to be statistically reliable. SEC. 213. GAO STUDY ON RESOURCES REQUIRED TO PROVIDE SAFE AND EFFECTIVE OUTPATIENT CANCER THERAPY. (a) STUDY.— The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a nationwide study to determine the physician and nonphysician clinical resources necessary to provide safe outpatient cancer therapy services and the appropriate pa)nTient rates for such services under the medicare program. In making such determination, the Comptroller General shall— (1) determine the adequacy of practice expense relative value units associated with the utilization of those clinical resources; (2) determine the adequacy of work units in the practice expense formula; and (3) assess various standards to assure the provision of safe outpatient cancer therapy services. (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.— The Comptroller General shall submit to Congress a report on the study conducted under subsection (a). The report shall include recommendations regarding practice expense adjustments to the payment methodology under part B of title XVIII of the Social Security Act, including the development and inclusion of adequate work units to assure the adequacy of payment amounts for safe outpatient cancer therapy
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