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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5520 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5520
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology to establish a national
computable-guideline framework for cancer screening recommendations,
and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 24, 2026
Mr. Grassley (for himself and Ms. Hassan) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to require the National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology to establish a national
computable-guideline framework for cancer screening recommendations,
and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Standardizing Cancer Recommendations
for Earlier Evaluation and Navigation of Screenings Act'' or the
``SCREENS Act''.
SEC. 2. NATIONAL COMPUTABLE-GUIDELINE FRAMEWORK FOR CANCER SCREENING
RECOMMENDATIONS.
(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:
``SEC. 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)''.
SEC. 3. GUIDANCE RELATING TO INTEGRATION OF COMPUTABLE-GUIDELINE CANCER
SCREENING RECOMMENDATIONS INTO HEALTH PLANS.
(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).
SEC. 4. PATIENT-CENTERED OUTCOMES RESEARCH INSTITUTE RESEARCH, PILOT
PROJECTS, IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES, AND DISSEMINATION
EFFORTS.
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.''.
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