Bill
HR 9285
The bill would fund pilots using AI to better detect and track heat-related illnesses and deaths by analyzing medical, death, and weather data to standardize reporting and guide na
Purpose and intent
- Establish a federal program to use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve surveillance, assessment, and response to heat-related illness and death.
- Address underreporting of heat-related health impacts by leveraging AI analysis of medical records, death certificates, coroner reports, and local weather data.
- Create a framework for pilot funding, privacy protections, and national guidelines to standardize documentation and inform broader deployment of AI for heat surveillance.
Key provisions and changes
1) Findings and rationale
- Acknowledges that heat-related deaths and illnesses are underreported due to coding limitations (ICD coding) and inconsistent clinical documentation.
- Proposes AI, including large language models, can identify likely heat-related cases from unstructured data and weather context.
2) Study on heat-related illness
- Requires a study within 2 years of enactment to assess the incidence of heat-related illness and death.
- Includes coordination with state health and vital statistics bodies to estimate heat-attributable mortality as primary, secondary, or tertiary cause.
3) Establishment of a Heat Illness AI Surveillance and Response Program (pilot)
- Grants to 3–5 eligible entities to run the pilot program.
- Eligible entities include hospitals, academic medical centers, state/local health departments, and qualified research institutions.
4) Applications and project requirements
- Eligible entities must submit an application detailing an implementation plan, partnerships, existing AI tools (if any), and compliance with federal/state privacy laws.
- Grants must be used to develop and test AI tools that analyze medical records, death certificates, and coroner reports for heat-related indicators, and to integrate localized weather and occupational data.
- Activities funded include surveillance, development of heat response protocols, clinician training, and community outreach.
5) Selection and equity considerations
- Grants awarded on a competitive basis.
- Criteria emphasize geographic and climate diversity, including at least one urban and one rural community.
6) Stakeholder consultation
- Requires engagement with medicolegal death investigation professionals, regional/state/local health departments, and relevant stakeholders such as utility companies.
7) Privacy, ethics, and governance
- Mandates adherence to HIPAA and other privacy laws.
- Proposes an AI advisory board to ensure transparency, fairness, accuracy, and equitable performance across demographic and geographic groups.
8) Reporting and evaluation
- Progress reports due annually starting 1 year after enactment, detailing program progress, AI data accuracy, and public health outcomes.
- Final report due by September 30, 2031, evaluating overall effectiveness and presenting costs and benefits of program activities.
9) National guidelines and recommendations
- CDC Director must issue national guidelines within 2 years to standardize documentation and reporting of heat-related illnesses and deaths, improving ICD external cause code usage.
- By 2031, Secretary must issue recommendations and advise federal agencies on broadly deploying AI tools for tracking heat-related deaths, including best practices for design, acquisition, development, deployment, sharing, risk management, auditing, and performance.
10) Definitions
- Defines AI, AI tool, artificial intelligence, eligible entity, program, and secretary for interpretive clarity.
11) Funding
- Authorization of appropriations: up to $25 million per fiscal year from 2027 through 2031 to support the program.
Who would be affected
- Eligible entities (hospitals, academic medical centers, state/local health departments, and qualified research institutions) could receive grants and participate in developing AI tools and surveillance activities.
- Federal agencies (HHS, CDC) would lead implementation, guidance, and reporting.
- Clinicians, coroners, and public health practitioners involved in heat-related illness detection and response would interact with newly standardized processes and training.
- Communities in diverse climates (urban and rural) could benefit from improved surveillance and responsive interventions.
Timeline and key dates
- Enactment triggers required studies within 2 years.
- National guidelines by CDC within 2 years of enactment.
- Final program evaluation and recommendations by September 30, 2031.
- Annual progress reports beginning within 1 year of enactment, then annually until final report.
Overall impact
- Aims to improve detection and understanding of heat-related health impacts through AI-enabled analysis of clinical and death data, integrated with weather information.
- Seeks to standardize reporting, enhance privacy protections, and provide actionable recommendations for broader deployment of AI in heat surveillance and response across the nation.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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