SCREENS Act

This Act may be cited as the “Standardizing Cancer Recommendations for Earlier Evaluation and Navigation of Screenings Act” or the “SCREENS Act”.

(a) In general.— Subtitle A of title XXX of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–11 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

“3009B. National computable-guideline framework for cancer screening recommendations.—

(a) In general.— Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Standardizing Cancer Recommendations for Earlier Evaluation and Navigation of Screenings Act, the National Coordinator, in consultation with the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the United States Preventive Services Task Force, the Director of the National Cancer Institute, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and key oncology stakeholders, shall establish a national computable-guideline framework for cancer screening recommendations based on data and certain statistics, such as age, sex, and high-risk factors, established in the recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force and the National Cancer Institute. Such framework shall be updated annually.

(b) Requirement.—

(1) In general.— The recommendations contained in the framework under subsection (a) shall be publicly available in machine-readable screening logic, so that interoperability and health information technology can use such recommendations to establish patient-forward technologies for the purpose of making such recommendations more accessible and consumer-focused.

(2) Machine-readable screening logic interoperability requirement.— The machine-readable screening logic required under paragraph (1) shall be interoperable with—

(A) the Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) dataset; or

(B) the United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI).

(c) Privacy protections.— The National Coordinator shall ensure that all activities conducted pursuant this section comply with applicable privacy laws, including the regulations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.

(d) Effect.— Nothing in this Act permits the unauthorized use, disclosure, or re-identification of individually identifiable health information.”.

(b) Condition of certification.— Section 3001(c)(5) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–11(c)(5)) is amended—

(1) by redesignating subparagraph (E) as subparagraph (F);

(2) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following:

“(E) Condition of certification relating to cancer screening recommendations.—

(i) In general.— Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of the Standardizing Cancer Recommendations for Earlier Evaluation and Navigation of Screenings Act, the Secretary, through notice and comment rulemaking, shall require, as a condition of certification and maintenance of certification for programs maintained or recognized under this paragraph, consistent with other conditions and requirements under this title, that the health information technology will include functionality that operationalizes the cancer screening recommendations included in the national computable-guideline framework established under section 3009B(a) so that the status of an individual patient with respect to completion of recommended cancer screenings may be determined.

(ii) Privacy protections.— The functionality required under clause (i) shall—

(I) use only the minimum necessary patient data, including age, sex, and high-risk factors, required to determine an individual’s status with respect to recommended cancer screenings;

(II) provide patients with clear and accessible information regarding how their data is used in generating cancer screening recommendations; and

(III) support mechanisms for patients to access, review, and request changes to their health information, in accordance with applicable privacy laws.”; and

(3) in subparagraph (F) (as so redesignated), by striking “subparagraph (D)” and inserting “subparagraphs (D) and (E)”.

(a) In general.— Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall issue guidance to encourage health plans—

(1) to integrate technology that operationalizes the cancer screening recommendations included in the national computable-guideline framework established under section 3009B(a) of the Public Health Service Act (as added by section 2(a)); and

(2) to enable consumers to opt into certified EHR technology (as defined in section 3000 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj)) that includes the functionality for cancer screening recommendations described in subparagraph (E) of section 3001(c)(5) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–11(c)(5)).

(b) Definition of health plan.— In this section, the term health plan means—

(1) a medicaid managed care organization (as defined in section 1903(m)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(m)(1)(A))) or other specified entity (as defined in section 1903(m)(9)(D) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396b(m)(9)(D)));

(2) a Medicare Advantage plan under part C of title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–21 et seq.); or

(3) a qualified health plan offered through the American Health Benefit Exchanges established under sections 1311 and 1321 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (42 U.S.C. 18031, 18041).

Section 1181(d)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320e(d)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:

“(C) Research, pilot projects, implementation activities, and dissemination efforts.— The Institute may support research, pilot projects, implementation activities, and dissemination efforts that advance the use of interoperable health information technology to improve patient-centered outcomes through the translation of evidence-based preventive care recommendations into clinical practice. Such activities may include the development, testing, evaluation, and implementation of computable clinical guidelines, clinical decision support tools, patient-facing decision aids, and interoperable technologies that facilitate evidence-based cancer screening recommendations, shared decision making, and identification of individuals who may be eligible for preventive services or clinical research.”.