[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1037 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1037
To prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from carrying out certain
activities under the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program
until certification of system stability improvements.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 29, 2023
Mr. Moran (for himself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Cassidy, Mr. Rounds, Mr.
Tillis, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Risch, Mr.
Crapo, Mr. Daines, Mr. Braun, and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from carrying out certain
activities under the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program
until certification of system stability improvements.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Veterans Affairs EHRM
Standardization and Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ACTIVITIES BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS
AFFAIRS UNDER ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD MODERNIZATION
PROGRAM UNTIL CERTIFICATION OF SYSTEM STABILITY
IMPROVEMENTS.
(a) Certification of Improvement.--
(1) Prohibition.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not
commence a program activity at a facility of the Veterans
Health Administration where no program activity has commenced
as of the date of the enactment of this Act until the date on
which the Secretary submits to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of
the House of Representatives a written certification that the
electronic health record system has met the improvement
objective described in paragraph (2).
(2) Improvement objective.--The improvement objective
described in this paragraph is--
(A) the achievement of a minimum uptime and system-
wide stability standard for the electronic health
record system, as defined by the Secretary in
consultation with the Under Secretary for Health, the
Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, and
the Chief Information Officer of the Department of
Veterans Affairs; and
(B) the submittal by the Secretary to the Committee
on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives of a
report detailing the completion status of corrections
to the customization and configuration of workflow
designs related to the electronic health record system.
(b) Certification of Readiness.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary may not implement the
electronic health record system at a facility of the Veterans
Health Administration where such system has not been
implemented as of the date of the enactment of this Act until
the date on which the Under Secretary for Health, in
consultation with the director of such facility, submits to the
Secretary, and the Secretary transmits to the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs of the House of Representatives, written certification
that the staff and infrastructure of such facility are
adequately prepared to receive such system.
(2) Sunset.--This subsection shall terminate on the date on
which the Secretary has made the certification under paragraph
(1) at not less than one facility of the Veterans Health
Administration for each of the complexity levels of 1, 2, and
3.
(c) Exclusion.--This section does not apply to any facility that is
jointly operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the
Department of Defense.
(d) Report.--
(1) Initial report.--Not later than 30 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee
on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report
that contains the following:
(A) A comprehensive review of the systems and
networks of the Department of Defense within the
Federal electronic health record environment, including
the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System,
and the potential impacts of such systems and networks
on the electronic health record system.
(B) With respect to certifications of the readiness
of a facility to receive the electronic health record
system under subsection (b)--
(i) the single, standard pre-deployment
site readiness task list through which the
Secretary will determine such readiness;
(ii) a determination by the Secretary of--
(I) how the Secretary will align
staff of the facility to the electronic
health record system functionality; and
(II) the minimum percentage
requirement of staff at the facility
who will complete training on such
functionality or who will have their
primary role to be working with such
system to achieve such readiness.
(C) The national standard for workflows, system
interfaces, medical devices, clinical content, order
sets, and user roles as delineated by the clinical
complexity index of the Department of Veterans Affairs
for--
(i) facilities at complexity levels of 2 or
3; and
(ii) facilities at complexity levels of 1.
(2) Quarterly report.--Not less frequently than quarterly
following the initial report required under paragraph (1), the
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of
the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House
of Representatives a detailed report on--
(A) any site level deviations from the national
standard specified under paragraph (1)(C) and costs
associated with such deviations; and
(B) any changes to standard readiness task list
specified under paragraph (1)(B)(i).
(e) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Electronic health record system.--The term ``electronic
health record system'' means the electronic health record
system implemented pursuant to the Electronic Health Record
Modernization Program.
(2) Program activity.--The term ``program activity'' means
an activity under the Electronic Health Record Modernization
Program at a facility of the Veterans Health Administration,
including any site assessment (including State reviews), local
or national workshop, training, testing, or any other activity
conducted before the activation of the electronic health record
system.
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