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.
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.