# 119-s-4989: Saving Lives and Reducing Health Care Waste by Improving Diagnosis in Medicine Act

119-s-4989, Saving Lives and Reducing Health Care Waste by Improving Diagnosis in Medicine Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-07-30).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4989
- As of: 2026-07-30
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4989
- Congress: 119
- Title: Saving Lives and Reducing Health Care Waste by Improving Diagnosis in Medicine Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-07-15
- Sponsor: Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-07-30

## Summary

**Improve diagnostic safety and reduce diagnostic errors.** This bill creates a federally coordinated program to fund patient-centered research, centers of diagnostic excellence, and a national patient safety reporting and learning system that uses health IT and AI to speed safer, more accurate diagnoses. - Patients and families can submit diagnostic-safety reports to a national learning system for public health and quality improvement with privacy safeguards and reports not admissible in civil or criminal proceedings. The bill provides $20 million a year for 2027–2030 to develop and pilot that system. - Hospitals and clinicians get funding and implementation support through research, grants, and geographically distributed centers of diagnostic excellence to adopt evidence-based tools and reduce diagnostic delays. The bill authorizes $45 million a year for 2027–2031 for these research and quality improvement activities. - Researchers, health IT developers, and federal agencies get standardized data elements, an expert panel on interoperability needs, and an Interagency Council to coordinate research across AHRQ, NIH, CMS, FDA, ONC, and others. The council is authorized $1.5 million a year for 2027–2030.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM), 2026-07-15T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- National diagnostic research program: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would direct AHRQ to run a national, patient-centered program to study and reduce diagnostic errors. The program would fund research, implementation science, and diagnostic Centers of Excellence linked to clinical care. It would require a multi-stakeholder advisory committee th…
- Better diagnostic data and measures: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require HHS to convene an expert panel to recommend which US Core Data for Interoperability elements are essential for diagnosis work. The panel would look at symptom presentation, patient-reported symptoms, diagnosis status, and symptom-based registries, and HHS would pu…
- HHS council to improve diagnosis: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would create an Interagency Council in HHS to coordinate federal work on diagnostic research, implementation, and data needs. AHRQ would chair the council and agencies like CDC, CMS, VA, ONC, and FDA would join. The council would deliver a Strategic Federal Plan within 18 month…
- Patient reporting and privacy protections: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would require AHRQ to make a plan within one year to modernize voluntary patient safety reporting so patients, families, and caregivers can report diagnostic errors and near misses. The plan would include privacy safeguards, alignment with existing HHS learning systems, and the…

## Related bills

- 119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act
- 119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-934: American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2025
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act

## Sources
- [119-s-4989 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4989)

## Related
- [119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2819)
- [119-s-4504: Full-Service Community School Expansion Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4504)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-934: American Housing and Economic Mobility Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-934)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4989 (as of 2026-07-30).