Sec. 154. COMMUNICATIONS FOR RURAL HEALTH PROVIDERS

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## SEC. 154 COMMUNICATIONS FOR RURAL HEALTH PROVIDERS ###

(a)Purpose It is the purpose of this section to improve the ability of rural health providers to use communications to obtain health information and to consult with others concerning the delivery of patient care. Such enhanced communications ability may assist in— ####

(1)improving and extending the training of rural health professionals; and ####

(2)improving the continuity of patient care in rural areas. ###

(b)Advisory Panel The Secretary of Commerce, in conjunction with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall establish an advisory panel (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Panel”) to develop recommendations for the improvement of rural health care through the collection of information needed by providers and the improvement in the use of communications to disseminate such information. ###

(c)Composition of Panel The Panel shall be composed of individuals from organizations with rural constituencies and practitioners from health care disciplines, representatives of the National Library of Medicine, and representatives of different health professions schools, including nurse practitioners. ###

(d)Selection of Consultants The Panel may select consultants to provide advice to the Panel regarding the types of information that rural health care practitioners need, the procedures to gather and disseminate such information, and the types of communications equipment and training needed by rural health care practitioners to obtain access to such information. ###

(e)Report to Congress Not later than 1 year after the Panel is established under subsection (b), the Secretary of Commerce shall prepare and submit, to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, a report summarizing the recommendations made by the Panel under subsection (b). ###

(f)Authorization of Appropriations There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Commerce to carry out this section $1,000,000 to remain available until expended.