Saving Lives Through Better Data Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1793 To establish a grant program for the purpose of public health data system modernization. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 12, 2019 Mr. KAINE (for himself, Mr. ISAKSON, and Mr. KING) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a grant program for the purpose of public health data system modernization. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Saving Lives Through 4 Better Data Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH DATA SYSTEM MODERNIZATION. 6 Subtitle C of title XXVIII of the Public Health Serv- 7 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 300hh–31 et seq.) is amended by add- 8 ing at the end the following: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1793.IS S1793 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1793 IS ‘‘SEC. 2822. PUBLIC HEALTH DATA SYSTEM MODERNIZA- 1 TION GRANTS. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through 3 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 4 vention, shall— 5 ‘‘(1) award grants to State, local, Tribal, and 6 territorial public health departments for the expan- 7 sion and modernization of public health data sys- 8 tems, to assist public health departments in— 9 ‘‘(A) improving secure public health data 10 collection, transmission, exchange, maintenance, 11 and analysis; 12 ‘‘(B) simplifying reporting by health care 13 providers, as applicable, pursuant to State law, 14 including through the use of health information 15 technology, to State, local, Tribal, and terri- 16 torial public health departments, including pub- 17 lic health officials in multiple jurisdictions with- 18 in such State, as appropriate; 19 ‘‘(C) enhancing interoperability of current 20 public health data systems with health informa- 21 tion technology, including certified health infor- 22 mation technology; 23 ‘‘(D) supporting earlier disease and health 24 condition detection for public health responses; 25 and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1793.IS S1793 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1793 IS ‘‘(E) supporting activities within the appli- 1 cable jurisdiction related to the expansion and 2 modernization of electronic case reporting; 3 ‘‘(2) conduct activities related to the interoper- 4 ability and improvement of applicable public health 5 data systems used by the Centers for Disease Con- 6 trol and Prevention, as appropriate; and 7 ‘‘(3) develop and utilize public-private partner- 8 ships for technical assistance and related implemen- 9 tation support for State, local, Tribal, and territorial 10 public health departments, and the Centers for Dis- 11 ease Control and Prevention, on the expansion and 12 modernization of electronic case reporting and public 13 health data systems, as applicable. 14 ‘‘(b) REQUIREMENTS.— 15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not 16 award a grant under subsection (a)(1) unless the ap- 17 plicant supports standards endorsed by the National 18 Coordinator for Health Information Technology pur- 19 suant to section 3001(c)(1) or adopted by the Sec- 20 retary under section 3004. 21 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The Secretary may waive the 22 requirement under paragraph (1) with respect to an 23 applicant if the Secretary determines that the activi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1793.IS S1793 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1793 IS ties under subsection (a) cannot otherwise be carried 1 out within the applicable jurisdiction. 2 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity receiving a grant 3 under this section may use amounts received under such 4 grant for one or both of the following: 5 ‘‘(1) Carrying out activities described in sub- 6 section (a)(1) to support public health data systems 7 (including electronic case reporting), which may in- 8 clude support for, and training of, professionals with 9 expertise in contributing to and using such systems. 10 ‘‘(2) Developing and disseminating information 11 related to the use and importance of public health 12 data. 13 ‘‘(d) STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—Not 14 later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the 15 Saving Lives Through Better Data Act, the Secretary, 16 acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease 17 Control and Prevention, shall submit to the Committee on 18 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 19 the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 20 of Representatives, a coordinated strategy and an accom- 21 panying implementation plan that identifies and dem- 22 onstrates the steps the Secretary will carry out to— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1793.IS S1793 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1793 IS ‘‘(1) update and improve applicable public 1 health data systems used by the Centers for Disease 2 Control and Prevention; and 3 ‘‘(2) carry out the activities described in this 4 section to support the improvement of State, local, 5 Tribal, and territorial public health data systems. 6 ‘‘(e) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary, acting through 7 the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 8 vention, shall consult with States, local, Tribal, and terri- 9 torial health departments, professional medical and public 10 health associations, health information technology experts, 11 and other appropriate entities regarding the plan and 12 grant program to modernize public health data systems 13 pursuant to this section. Such activities may include the 14 provision of technical assistance related to the exchange 15 of information by such public health data systems used 16 by relevant health care and public health entities at the 17 local, State, Federal, Tribal, and territorial levels. 18 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than one 19 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec- 20 retary shall submit a report to the Committee on Health, 21 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 22 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 23 Representatives that includes— 24 ‘‘(1) a description of any barriers to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1793.IS S1793 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1793 IS ‘‘(A) public health authorities imple- 1 menting electronic case reporting and interoper- 2 able public health data systems; or 3 ‘‘(B) the exchange of information pursuant 4 to electronic case reporting; 5 ‘‘(2) an assessment of the potential public 6 health impact of implementing electronic case re- 7 porting and interoperable public health data sys- 8 tems; and 9 ‘‘(3) a description of the activities carried out 10 pursuant to this section. 11 ‘‘(g) ELECTRONIC CASE REPORTING.—In this sec- 12 tion, the term ‘electronic case reporting’ means the auto- 13 mated identification, generation, and bilateral exchange of 14 reports of health events among electronic health record or 15 health information technology systems and public health 16 authorities. 17 ‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 18 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 19 to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 20 2020 through 2024.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1793.IS S1793 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS