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1 ‘‘(B) are easily adapted for use by health
2 care providers across a variety of health care
3 settings;
4 ‘‘(2) shall include regular review, updating, and
5 improvement of such best practices; and
6 ‘‘(3) may include in-depth case studies or em-
7 pirical assessments of health care providers (includ-
8 ing hospitals, physician and other clinician practices,
9 community cooperatives, and other health care enti-
10 ties) and simulations of such best practices for de-
11 terminations under paragraph (1).
12 ‘‘(h) IMPLEMENTATION OF BEST PRACTICES.—
13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall enter
14 into voluntary arrangements with health care pro-
15 viders (including hospitals and other health facilities
16 and health practitioners) in a State or region to im-
17 plement best practices identified or developed under
18 this section. Such implementation—
19 ‘‘(A) may include forming collaborative
20 multi-institutional teams; and
21 ‘‘(B) shall include an evaluation of the best
22 practices being implemented, including the
23 measurement of patient outcomes before, dur-
24 ing, and after implementation of such best
25 practices.

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1 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCES.—In carrying out this sub-
2 section, the Director shall give priority to health
3 care providers implementing best practices that—
4 ‘‘(A) have the greatest impact on patient
5 outcomes and satisfaction;
6 ‘‘(B) are the most easily adapted for use
7 by health care providers across a variety of
8 health care settings;
9 ‘‘(C) promote coordination of health care
10 practitioners across the continuum of care; and
11 ‘‘(D) engage patients and their families in
12 improving patient care and outcomes.
13 ‘‘(i) PUBLIC DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—
14 The Director shall provide for the public dissemination of
15 information with respect to best practices and activities
16 under this section. Such information shall be made avail-
17 able in appropriate formats and languages to reflect the
18 varying needs of consumers and diverse levels of health
19 literacy.
20 ‘‘(j) REPORT.—
21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall submit
22 an annual report to the Congress and the Secretary
23 on activities under this section.
24 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—Each report under paragraph
25 (1) shall include—

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1 ‘‘(A) information on activities conducted
2 pursuant to grants and contracts awarded;
3 ‘‘(B) summary data on patient outcomes
4 before, during, and after implementation of best
5 practices; and
6 ‘‘(C) recommendations on the adaptability
7 of best practices for use by health providers.’’.
8 (b) INITIAL QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ACTIVITIES AND
9 INITIATIVES TO BE IMPLEMENTED.—Until the Director
10 of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has
11 established initial priorities under section 931(b) of the
12 Public Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a), the
13 Director shall, for purposes of such section, prioritize the
14 following:
15 (1) HEALTH CARE-ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS.—

16 Reducing health care-associated infections, including

17 infections in nursing homes and outpatient settings.
18 (2) SURGERY.—Increasing hospital and out-
19 patient perioperative patient safety, including reduc-
20 ing surgical-site infections and surgical errors (such
21 as wrong-site surgery and retained foreign bodies).
22 (3) EMERGENCY ROOM.—Improving care in
23 hospital emergency rooms, including through the use
24 of principles of efficiency of design and delivery to
25 improve patient flow.

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1 (4) OBSTETRICS.—Improving the provision of
2 obstetrical and neonatal care, including the identi-
3 fication of interventions that are effective in reduc-
4 ing the risk of preterm and premature labor and the
5 implementation of best practices for labor and deliv-
6 ery care.
7 SEC. 2402. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH INFORMA-

8 TION.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— Title XVII (42 U.S.C. 300u

10 et seq.) is amended—
11 (1) by redesignating sections 1709 and 1710 as
12 sections 1710 and 1711, respectively; and
13 (2) by inserting after section 1708 the fol-
14 lowing:
15 ‘‘SEC. 1709. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH INFORMA-

16 TION.

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the

18 Department an Assistant Secretary for Health Informa-
19 tion (in this section referred to as the ‘Assistant Sec-
20 retary’), to be appointed by the Secretary.
21 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Assistant Secretary
22 shall—
23 ‘‘(1) ensure the collection, collation, reporting,
24 and publishing of information (including full and
25 complete statistics) on key health indicators regard-

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1 ing the Nation’s health and the performance of the
2 Nation’s health care;
3 ‘‘(2) facilitate and coordinate the collection, col-
4 lation, reporting, and publishing of information re-
5 garding the Nation’s health and the performance of
6 the Nation’s health care (other than information de-
7 scribed in paragraph (1));
8 ‘‘(3)(A) develop standards for the collection of
9 data regarding the Nation’s health and the perform-
10 ance of the Nation’s health care; and
11 ‘‘(B) in carrying out subparagraph (A)—
12 ‘‘(i) ensure appropriate specificity and
13 standardization for data collection at the na-
14 tional, regional, State, and local levels;
15 ‘‘(ii) include standards, as appropriate, for
16 the collection of accurate data on health and
17 health care by race, ethnicity, primary lan-
18 guage, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity,
19 disability, socioeconomic status, rural, urban, or
20 other geographic setting, and any other popu-
21 lation or subpopulation determined appropriate
22 by the Secretary;
23 ‘‘(iii) ensure, with respect to data on race
24 and ethnicity, consistency with the 1997 Office
25 of Management and Budget Standards for

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1 Maintaining, Collecting and Presenting Federal
2 Data on Race and Ethnicity (or any successor
3 standards); and
4 ‘‘(iv) in consultation with the Director of
5 the Office of Minority Health, and the Director
6 of the Office of Civil Rights, of the Department,
7 develop standards for the collection of data on
8 health and health care with respect to data on
9 primary language;
10 ‘‘(4) provide support to Federal departments
11 and agencies whose programs have a significant im-
12 pact upon health (as determined by the Secretary)
13 for the collection and collation of information de-
14 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2);
15 ‘‘(5) ensure the sharing of information de-
16 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) among the agen-
17 cies of the Department;
18 ‘‘(6) facilitate the sharing of information de-
19 scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2) by Federal depart-
20 ments and agencies whose programs have a signifi-
21 cant impact upon health (as determined by the Sec-
22 retary);
23 ‘‘(7) identify gaps in information described in
24 paragraphs (1) and (2) and the appropriate agency
25 or entity to address such gaps;

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1 ‘‘(8) facilitate and coordinate identification and
2 monitoring by the agencies of the Department of
3 health disparities to inform program and policy ef-
4 forts to reduce such disparities, including facilitating
5 and funding analyses conducted in cooperation with
6 the Social Security Administration, the Bureau of
7 the Census, and other appropriate agencies and enti-
8 ties;
9 ‘‘(9) consistent with privacy, proprietary, and
10 other appropriate safeguards, facilitate public acces-
11 sibility of datasets (such as de-identified Medicare
12 datasets or publicly available data on key health in-
13 dicators) by means of the Internet; and
14 ‘‘(10) award grants or contracts for the collec-
15 tion and collation of information described in para-
16 graphs (1) and (2) (including through statewide sur-
17 veys that provide standardized information).
18 ‘‘(c) KEY HEALTH INDICATORS.—
19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection
20 (b)(1), the Assistant Secretary shall—
21 ‘‘(A) identify, and reassess at least once
22 every 3 years, key health indicators described in
23 such subsection;
24 ‘‘(B) publish statistics on such key health
25 indicators for the public—

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1 ‘‘(i) not less than annually; and
2 ‘‘(ii) on a supplemental basis when-
3 ever warranted by—
4 ‘‘(I) the rate of change for a key
5 health indicator; or
6 ‘‘(II) the need to inform policy
7 regarding the Nation’s health and the
8 performance of the Nation’s health
9 care; and
10 ‘‘(C) ensure consistency with the national
11 strategy developed by the Secretary under sec-
12 tion 3121 and consideration of the indicators
13 specified in the reports under sections 308,
14 903(a)(6), and 913(b)(2).
15 ‘‘(2) RELEASE OF KEY HEALTH INDICATORS.—

16 The regulations, rules, processes, and procedures of

17 the Office of Management and Budget governing the
18 review, release, and dissemination of key health indi-
19 cators shall be the same as the regulations, rules,
20 processes, and procedures of the Office of Manage-
21 ment and Budget governing the review, release, and
22 dissemination of Principal Federal Economic Indica-
23 tors (or equivalent statistical data) by the Bureau of
24 Labor Statistics.

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