Secretary of Health and Human Services shall conduct a study regarding the feasibility of establishing a system of electronic access of providers of services and suppliers to in-process and complete patient claims data. Such system may be a modification of an existing database, such as the Virtual Research Data Center. The study shall take into account the measures needed to ensure the security and privacy of beneficiary and provider information. (2) Report Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on such study. The Secretary shall include in such report such recommendations as the Secretary deems appropriate. (c) Permitting de minimis variation from minimum enrollment requirement Section 1899(b)(2)(D) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395jjj(b)(2)(D) ) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: , except that the Secretary may permit an ACO with fewer than 5,000 participants by a de minimis number (not to exceed 100) to be eligible to continue to participate in cases where such fewer number does not negatively impact the ACO’s participation in the program and the ACO meets other conditions to be so eligible . (d) Payments for shared savings Section 1899(d)(2) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1395jjj(d)(2) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: For years beginning on or after January 1, 2018, the Secretary may use a sliding scale to increase by up to 10 percentage points the appropriate percent otherwise applied under this paragraph for an ACO that achieves the median of quality performance standards, or achieves quality improvement scores above such median, established under subsection (b)(3). The Secretary shall not decrease such appropriate percent otherwise applied to an ACO because of the application of an increase under the previous sentence for another ACO. . (e) Demonstration for allowing growth of HCC scores Section 1899(d)(1)(B)(ii) of the Social Security Act ( 42 U.S.C.