Saving Lives and Reducing Health Care Waste by Improving Diagnosis in Medicine Act
Sponsored By: Senator Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
Introduced
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.
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- 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.
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
National diagnostic research program
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 that includes patients and families and would emphasize data science and AI. The bill would authorize $45 million each year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, with funds available until expended.
Better diagnostic data and measures
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 publish a summary of recommendations and planned actions. The bill would also add 'diagnostic safety and quality' as an explicit focus area for developing health care quality measures. The expert panel work could be funded as needed for fiscal years 2027 through 2029.
HHS council to improve diagnosis
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 months and report to Congress every odd-numbered year thereafter. The bill would authorize $1.5 million each year for fiscal years 2027 through 2030 to support the council.
Patient reporting and privacy protections
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 use of AI or natural language processing to detect safety signals. Reports collected under the system would not be admissible in civil or criminal proceedings and would be used only for public health, improvement, and learning. The bill would authorize $20 million each year for fiscal years 2027 through 2030, with funds available until expended.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD]
MD • D
Cosponsors
Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM]
NM • D
Sponsored 7/15/2026
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.gov