Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) introduced a bill last week to establish a national health IT network, and Frist said he hopes to pass the legislation within the next 18 months. The legislation would create a Medicare program to encourage the reporting of health care quality data and facilitate performance-based payments to providers. Supporters believe the HHS Secretary could roll out the program nationwide in two years. The bill would also allow $125 million per year in grants to local and regional collaborations of hospitals, health plans, physicians and other providers to develop health IT standards and would require the federal government to adopt interoperability standards, which would be voluntary for the private sector.