VA Medical Center Facility Transparency Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 765 To require directors of medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs to submit annual fact sheets to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on the status of such facilities, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 3, 2021 Mrs. LESKO (for herself, Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mr. LUETKEMEYER, and Mrs. HARTZLER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To require directors of medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs to submit annual fact sheets to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on the status of such facili- ties, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Medical Center 4 Facility Transparency Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H765.IH H765 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 765 IH SEC. 2. INFORMATION ON MEDICAL FACILITIES OF THE DE- 1 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 2 (a) FACT SHEETS.—The Secretary of Veterans Af- 3 fairs shall ensure that each director of a medical center 4 of the Department of Veterans Affairs submits to the Sec- 5 retary, the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House 6 of Representatives and the Senate, and the appropriate 7 Members of Congress the following: 8 (1) An annual concise, easy-to-read fact sheet 9 containing, with respect to the year covered by the 10 fact sheet: 11 (A) Statistics regarding— 12 (i) the number of veterans who were 13 treated at a medical facility of the Depart- 14 ment under the jurisdiction of the director; 15 (ii) the number of appointments con- 16 ducted by each such facility; 17 (iii) the most common illnesses or con- 18 ditions for which treatment was furnished; 19 (iv) the satisfaction of veterans who 20 were treated at each such facility; 21 (v) how each such facility compares 22 with other facilities with respect to the sat- 23 isfaction of veterans who were treated at 24 the facilities; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H765.IH H765 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 765 IH (vi) other matters the director deter- 1 mines appropriate. 2 (B) A description of any successes or 3 achievements experienced by such facilities, in- 4 cluding— 5 (i) actions taken to improve such fa- 6 cilities; 7 (ii) actions taken to improve the ac- 8 cess to and quality of the care provided at 9 such facilities; and 10 (iii) any other accomplishments deter- 11 mined appropriate by the director. 12 (C) A description of special areas of em- 13 phasis or specialization by such facilities, such 14 as efforts aimed at meeting the needs of women 15 veterans, suicide prevention and other mental 16 health initiatives, opioid abuse prevention and 17 pain management, or special efforts on veteran 18 homelessness, or other matters as the director 19 determines appropriate. 20 (D) A description of matters concerning 21 such facilities that have previously been identi- 22 fied as deficient and needing remediation that 23 are still in need of such remediation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H765.IH H765 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 765 IH (2) A quarterly fact sheet containing, with re- 1 spect to the quarter covered by the fact sheet, the 2 average wait time for veterans to receive treatment 3 at the medical facility of the Department under the 4 jurisdiction of the director. 5 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Each fact sheet under sub- 6 section (a) shall be made publicly available— 7 (1) in a physical form at the relevant medical 8 facility of the Department in a conspicuous location; 9 and 10 (2) in an electronic form on the internet website 11 of the facility. 12 (c) TIMING OF FACT SHEETS.—The fact sheets 13 under subsection (a) shall be submitted during the first 14 fiscal year beginning after the date that is 180 days after 15 the date of the enactment of this Act and not less fre- 16 quently than— 17 (1) once each fiscal year thereafter with respect 18 to the annual fact sheet under paragraph (1) of such 19 subsection; and 20 (2) once each fiscal quarter thereafter with re- 21 spect to the quarterly fact sheet under paragraph 22 (2) of such subsection. 23 (d) STANDARDIZED FORMAT.—The Secretary shall 24 establish a standard format for the fact sheets under sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H765.IH H765 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 765 IH section (a) to ensure that each director of a medical center 1 of the Department carries out such subsection in a con- 2 sistent manner. 3 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate Members of Con- 5 gress’’ means, with respect to a medical facility of 6 the Department of Veterans Affairs about which a 7 fact sheet is submitted under subsection (a), the 8 Senators representing the State, and the Member, 9 Delegate, or Resident Commissioner of the House of 10 Representatives representing the district, that in- 11 cludes the facility. 12 (2) The term ‘‘State’’ means each of the several 13 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 14 of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of 15 the United States. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:13 Feb 23, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H765.IH H765 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS