Title: Saving Lives Through Better Data Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Saving Lives Through Better Data Act
This bill requires the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to take a series of actions relating to public health data systems. Among other things, the CDC must award grants to help public health departments modernize and improve their systems with respect to data collection, analysis, and reporting.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1793 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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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, Education, 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Saving Lives Through Better Data 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH DATA SYSTEM MODERNIZATION.

    Subtitle C of title XXVIII of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300hh-31 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 2822. PUBLIC HEALTH DATA SYSTEM MODERNIZATION GRANTS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall--
            ``(1) award grants to State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
        public health departments for the expansion and modernization 
        of public health data systems, to assist public health 
        departments in--
                    ``(A) improving secure public health data 
                collection, transmission, exchange, maintenance, and 
                analysis;
                    ``(B) simplifying reporting by health care 
                providers, as applicable, pursuant to State law, 
                including through the use of health information 
                technology, to State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
                public health departments, including public health 
                officials in multiple jurisdictions within such State, 
                as appropriate;
                    ``(C) enhancing interoperability of current public 
                health data systems with health information technology, 
                including certified health information technology;
                    ``(D) supporting earlier disease and health 
                condition detection for public health responses; and
                    ``(E) supporting activities within the applicable 
                jurisdiction related to the expansion and modernization 
                of electronic case reporting;
            ``(2) conduct activities related to the interoperability 
        and improvement of applicable public health data systems used 
        by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as 
        appropriate; and
            ``(3) develop and utilize public-private partnerships for 
        technical assistance and related implementation support for 
        State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health 
        departments, and the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, on the expansion and modernization of electronic 
        case reporting and public health data systems, as applicable.
    ``(b) Requirements.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary may not award a grant 
        under subsection (a)(1) unless the applicant supports standards 
        endorsed by the National Coordinator for Health Information 
        Technology pursuant to section 3001(c)(1) or adopted by the 
        Secretary under section 3004.
            ``(2) Waiver.--The Secretary may waive the requirement 
        under paragraph (1) with respect to an applicant if the 
        Secretary determines that the activities under subsection (a) 
        cannot otherwise be carried out within the applicable 
        jurisdiction.
    ``(c) Use of Funds.--An entity receiving a grant under this section 
may use amounts received under such grant for one or both of the 
following:
            ``(1) Carrying out activities described in subsection 
        (a)(1) to support public health data systems (including 
        electronic case reporting), which may include support for, and 
        training of, professionals with expertise in contributing to 
        and using such systems.
            ``(2) Developing and disseminating information related to 
        the use and importance of public health data.
    ``(d) Strategy and Implementation Plan.--Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of the Saving Lives Through Better Data 
Act, the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, shall submit to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives, a coordinated 
strategy and an accompanying implementation plan that identifies and 
demonstrates the steps the Secretary will carry out to--
            ``(1) update and improve applicable public health data 
        systems used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 
        and
            ``(2) carry out the activities described in this section to 
        support the improvement of State, local, Tribal, and 
        territorial public health data systems.
    ``(e) Consultation.--The Secretary, acting through the Director of 
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall consult with 
States, local, Tribal, and territorial health departments, professional 
medical and public health associations, health information technology 
experts, and other appropriate entities regarding the plan and grant 
program to modernize public health data systems pursuant to this 
section. Such activities may include the provision of technical 
assistance related to the exchange of information by such public health 
data systems used by relevant health care and public health entities at 
the local, State, Federal, Tribal, and territorial levels.
    ``(f) Report to Congress.--Not later than one year after the date 
of enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit a report to 
the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate 
and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 
Representatives that includes--
            ``(1) a description of any barriers to--
                    ``(A) public health authorities implementing 
                electronic case reporting and interoperable public 
                health data systems; or
                    ``(B) the exchange of information pursuant to 
                electronic case reporting;
            ``(2) an assessment of the potential public health impact 
        of implementing electronic case reporting and interoperable 
        public health data systems; and
            ``(3) a description of the activities carried out pursuant 
        to this section.
    ``(g) Electronic Case Reporting.--In this section, the term 
`electronic case reporting' means the automated identification, 
generation, and bilateral exchange of reports of health events among 
electronic health record or health information technology systems and 
public health authorities.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--For the purpose of carrying 
out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 
for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024.''.
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