S. 5520 — SCREENS Act

This section establishes a national computable-guideline framework for cancer screening recommendations within 1 year, developed by the National Coordinator in consultation with AHRQ, USPSTF, NCI, CDC, and oncology stakeholders, based on USPSTF and NCI data such as age, sex, and high-risk factors, and updated annually. It requires the recommendations to be publicly available in machine-readable screening logic interoperable with mCODE or USCDI, subject to HIPAA privacy protections. It also requires, as a condition of health IT certification within 5 years, functionality to determine an individual patient’s cancer screening status 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 exchanges to integrate technology that operationalizes national computable cancer screening recommendations and to allow 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 interoperable health information technology to translate evidence-based preventive care recommendations into clinical practice. Such activities may include development, testing, and implementation of computable clinical guidelines, clinical decision support tools, patient-facing decision aids, and interoperable technologies that facilitate cancer screening recommendations, shared decision-making, and identification of individuals eligible for preventive services or clinical research.