[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5321 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5321

To amend the Public Health Service Act to expand, enhance, and improve 
          public health data systems, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 5, 2019

  Mrs. McBath (for herself and Mr. Carter of Georgia) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to expand, enhance, and improve 
          public health data systems, 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 ``Public Health Infrastructure 
Modernization Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH DATA SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION.

    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 TRANSFORMATION.

    ``(a) Expanding CDC and Public Health Department Capabilities.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary, acting through the 
        Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
        shall--
                    ``(A) conduct activities to expand, enhance, and 
                improve public health data systems used by the Centers 
                for Disease Control and Prevention, related to the 
                interoperability and improvement of such systems 
                (including with respect to preparedness for, prevention 
                and detection of, and response to public health 
                emergencies); and
                    ``(B) award grants or cooperative agreements to 
                State, local, Tribal, or territorial public health 
                departments for the expansion and modernization of 
                public health data systems, to assist public health 
                departments in--
                            ``(i) assessing current data infrastructure 
                        capabilities and gaps to improve consistency in 
                        data collection, storage, and analysis, and as 
                        appropriate to improve dissemination of public 
                        health-related information;
                            ``(ii) improving secure public health data 
                        collection, transmission, exchange, 
                        maintenance, and analysis;
                            ``(iii) improving the secure exchange of 
                        data between the Centers for Disease Control 
                        and Prevention, State, local, Tribal, and 
                        territorial public health departments, public 
                        health organizations, and health care 
                        providers, including--
                                    ``(I) between public health 
                                officials in multiple jurisdictions 
                                within a State; and
                                    ``(II) by simplifying and 
                                supporting reporting by health care 
                                providers pursuant to State law, 
                                including through the use of health 
                                information technology;
                            ``(iv) enhancing the interoperability of 
                        public health data systems (including systems 
                        created or accessed by public health 
                        departments) with health information 
                        technology, including with health information 
                        technology certified under section 3001(c)(5);
                            ``(v) supporting and training public health 
                        data systems, data science, and informatics 
                        personnel;
                            ``(vi) supporting earlier disease and 
                        health condition detection, such as through 
                        near real-time data monitoring, to support 
                        rapid public health responses;
                            ``(vii) supporting activities within the 
                        applicable jurisdiction related to the 
                        expansion and modernization of electronic case 
                        reporting; and
                            ``(viii) developing and disseminating 
                        information related to the use and importance 
                        of public health data.
            ``(2) Data standards.--In carrying out paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention, shall, as appropriate and in 
        coordination with the Office of the National Coordinator for 
        Health Information Technology, designate data and technology 
        standards (including standards for interoperability) for public 
        health data systems, with deference given to standards 
        published by consensus-based standards development 
        organizations with public input and voluntary consensus-based 
        standards bodies.
            ``(3) Public-private partnerships.--The Secretary may 
        develop and utilize public-private partnerships for technical 
        assistance, training, 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) Health information technology standards.--The 
        Secretary may not award a grant or cooperative agreement under 
        subsection (a)(1)(B) unless the applicant uses or agrees to use 
        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)(1)(B) cannot otherwise be carried out within the applicable 
        jurisdiction.
            ``(3) Application.--A State, local, Tribal, or territorial 
        health department applying for a grant or cooperative agreement 
        under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 
        at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may require. 
        Such application shall include information describing--
                    ``(A) the activities that will be supported by the 
                grant or cooperative agreement; and
                    ``(B) how the modernization of the public health 
                data systems involved will support or impact the public 
                health infrastructure of the health department, 
                including a description of remaining gaps, if any, and 
                the actions needed to address such gaps.
    ``(c) Strategy and Implementation Plan.--Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this section, 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 describes the measures the 
Secretary will utilize to--
            ``(1) update and improve 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.
    ``(d) Consultation.--In carrying out this section, the Secretary, 
acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, shall consult with State, local, Tribal, and territorial 
public health departments, professional medical and public health 
associations, associations representing hospitals or other health care 
entities, health information technology experts, and other appropriate 
public or private entities.
    ``(e) Report to Congress.--Not later than 1 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 
                interoperable public health data systems and electronic 
                case reporting;
                    ``(B) the exchange of information pursuant to 
                electronic case reporting; or
                    ``(C) reporting by health care providers using such 
                public health data systems, as appropriate, and 
                pursuant to State law;
            ``(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.
    ``(f) 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.
    ``(g) Authorization of Appropriations.--To carry out this section, 
there is authorized to be appropriated $100,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2020 through 2024.''.
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