H.R. 10850 — SCREENS Act

This section establishes a national computable-guideline framework for cancer screening recommendations, to be developed within one year by the National Coordinator in consultation with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, United States Preventive Services Task Force, National Cancer Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and oncology stakeholders. The framework must be updated annually, made publicly available in machine-readable format interoperable with the Minimal Common Oncology Data Elements dataset or United States Core Data for Interoperability, and implemented with privacy protections under HIPAA. It also requires, within five years, that certified health information technology include functionality to determine an individual patient’s status on recommended cancer screenings using minimum necessary data, with patient access and transparency requirements.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue guidance within 2 years of enactment encouraging Medicaid managed care organizations, Medicare Advantage plans, and qualified health plans on the ACA exchanges to integrate technology that operationalizes cancer screening recommendations from the national computable-guideline framework and to enable consumers to opt into certified electronic health record technology containing that functionality.

This section authorizes the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to 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.