[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5014 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5014
To improve the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of diagnosis
in health care, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 8, 2019
Mr. Lujan (for himself and Mr. Bilirakis) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of diagnosis
in health care, 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 ``Improving Diagnosis in Medicine Act
of 2019''.
SEC. 2. RESEARCH CENTERS OF DIAGNOSTIC EXCELLENCE.
(a) In General.--Section 912 of the Public Health Service Act (42
U.S.C. 299b-1) is amended--
(1) in subsection (c), by inserting after ``part C'' the
following: ``and subsection (d)''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(d) Research Centers of Diagnostic Excellence.--
``(1) In general.--The Director shall award grants for the
establishment and maintenance of centers, to be known as
Research Centers of Diagnostic Excellence, that advance
research and progress in diagnostic quality, safety, and value
in clinical care and population health through implementing the
activities specified in paragraph (3).
``(2) Considerations.--In awarding grants under paragraph
(1), the Director shall take into consideration--
``(A) the level of development within the field of
research on improving diagnosis in health care; and
``(B) the need to plan and establish new Research
Centers of Diagnostic Excellence.
``(3) Activities.--
``(A) Required activities.--Each Research Center of
Diagnostic Excellence receiving funds pursuant to
paragraph (1) shall use such funds to--
``(i) serve as an interdisciplinary core
diagnostic research hub for conducting
diagnostic safety and quality research;
``(ii) support research and public health
initiatives on improving diagnosis in medicine;
and
``(iii) foster high-impact research on
novel solutions to improve diagnosis that will
significantly reduce patient harm.
``(B) Permissible activities.--In addition to the
required activities listed in subparagraph (A), each
Research Center of Diagnostic Excellence receiving
funds pursuant to paragraph (1) may use such funds to--
``(i) build capacity by cultivating,
training, and developing a highly qualified
diagnostic research workforce;
``(ii) develop and validate operationally
viable measures of diagnostic error to assess
which approaches are effective for monitoring
the diagnosis process of identifying,
analyzing, and reducing diagnostic errors; and
``(iii) utilize strategic partnerships that
capitalize on the capabilities of both academic
research institutions and non-academic health
care, public health, science, and technology
stakeholders.''.
SEC. 3. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON IMPROVING DIAGNOSIS IN HEALTH CARE.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services (in
this section referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall establish within
the Office of the Secretary an interagency council to be known as the
Interagency Council on Improving Diagnosis in Health Care (in this
section referred to as the ``Council'').
(b) Objectives.--The objectives of the Council shall be the
following:
(1) Enhance the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness
of diagnosis in health care through--
(A) the establishment and support of a broad base
of scientific research;
(B) the dissemination and implementation of the
results of such research; and
(C) the promotion of improvements in clinical and
health system practices.
(2) Identify and eliminate systemic barriers to supporting
research in improving diagnosis in health care.
(3) Identify knowledge gaps, research needs, and
deficiencies in clinical and health system delivery, associated
with the diagnostic process, with an emphasis on clarifying
needs across the diagnostic research continuum.
(4) Create core diagnostic research services and
interdisciplinary teams to facilitate diagnostic research.
(5) Build capacity by training and developing a highly-
qualified diagnostic research workforce.
(6) Establish valid operational measures of diagnostic
error.
(c) Membership.--
(1) Chairperson.--The Director of the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (or the Director's designee) shall be the
Chairperson of the Council.
(2) Members.--
(A) In general.--In addition to the Chairperson,
the Council shall be comprised of at least 1 designee
from each of the following, appointed by the head of
the applicable department or agency:
(i) The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
(ii) The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services.
(iii) The Department of Veterans Affairs.
(iv) The Congressionally Directed Medical
Research Program of the Department of Defense.
(v) The National Institutes of Health,
including designees from--
(I) the National Cancer Institute;
(II) the National Center for
Advancing Translational Sciences;
(III) the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases;
(IV) the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute;
(V) the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke;
(VI) the National Library of
Medicine; and
(VII) such other national research
institutes and national centers as may
be appropriate, as determined by the
Director of the National Institutes of
Health.
(B) Additional members.--In addition to the
designees under subparagraph (A), the Council may
include such other designees from Federal departments
or agencies as the Chairperson of the Council deems
appropriate.
(C) Designation.--A person appointed to the Council
as a designee shall be a senior official or employee of
the department or agency whose responsibilities and
subject matter expertise are relevant to the Council's
objectives listed in subsection (b), as determined by
the designating official.
(d) Strategic Plan; Reports.--
(1) Strategic federal plan to improve diagnosis in health
care.--Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Council shall develop, submit to the Secretary
and Congress, and make publicly available a strategic plan, to
be known as the Strategic Federal Plan to Improve Diagnosis,
that, consistent with the objectives listed in subsection (b)--
(A) identifies coordinated opportunities to enhance
scientific research and reduce systemic barriers in
order to improve diagnosis in health care; and
(B) includes legislative and administrative policy
recommendations.
(2) Reports to congress.--Not later than July 31 of every
odd-numbered year beginning with the first such year after the
date of submission of the first Strategic Federal Plan to
Improve Diagnosis under paragraph (1), the Council shall
prepare, submit to the Secretary and Congress, and make
publicly available an updated Strategic Federal Plan to Improve
Diagnosis that includes--
(A) such updates as the Council determines to be
appropriate;
(B) information on the overall progress of the
Federal Government in reducing barriers to research on,
and supporting projects to improve, diagnosis in health
care; and
(C) legislative and administrative policy
recommendations, including addressing any needs for
greater legislative authority to meet the objectives
listed in subsection (b).
SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act
(including the amendments made by this Act) $8,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2021 through 2025, to remain available until expended.
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