To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish traumatic brain injury centers.

Summary: Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to: (1) establish and operate centers for traumatic brain injury (TBI) research, education, and clinical activities; (2) ensure the geographic distribution of such centers; and (3) designate no more than five centers.

Requires the: (1) official within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) responsible for TBI care to establish a peer review panel to assess the scientific and clinical merit of proposals submitted for the designation of such centers; and (2) Under Secretary of Health to ensure the dissemination throughout the VHA of information produced through the research, education, and clinical activities of the centers.

SECTION 1. TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY CENTERS.

    (a) Establishment.--Subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 7320 the following 
new section:
``Sec. 7320A. Centers for traumatic brain injury research, education, 
              and clinical activities
    ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to provide for the 
improvement of the provision of health care to eligible veterans with 
traumatic brain injuries through--
            ``(1) the conduct of research (including research on 
        improving facilities of the Department concentrating on 
        traumatic brain injury care and on improving the delivery of 
        traumatic brain injury care by the Department);
            ``(2) the education and training of health care personnel 
        of the Department; and
            ``(3) the development of improved models and systems for 
        the furnishing of traumatic brain injury care by the 
        Department.
    ``(b) Establishment of Centers.--(1) The Secretary shall establish 
and operate centers for traumatic brain injury research, education, and 
clinical activities. Such centers shall be established and operated by 
collaborating Department facilities as provided in subsection (c)(1). 
Each such center shall function as a center for--
            ``(A) research on traumatic brain injury;
            ``(B) the use by the Department of specific models for 
        furnishing traumatic brain injury care;
            ``(C) education and training of health-care professionals 
        of the Department; and
            ``(D) the development and implementation of innovative 
        clinical activities and systems of care with respect to the 
        delivery of traumatic brain injury care by the Department.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall, upon the recommendation of the Under 
Secretary for Health, designate the centers under this section. In 
making such designations, the Secretary shall ensure that the centers 
designated are located in various geographic regions of the United 
States. The Secretary may designate a center under this section only 
if--
            ``(A) the proposal submitted for the designation of the 
        center meets the requirements of subsection (c);
            ``(B) the Secretary makes the finding described in 
        subsection (d); and
            ``(C) the peer review panel established under subsection 
        (e) makes the determination specified in subsection (e)(3) with 
        respect to that proposal.
    ``(3) Not more than five centers may be designated under this 
section.
    ``(4) The authority of the Secretary to establish and operate 
centers under this section is subject to the appropriation of funds for 
that purpose.
    ``(c) Proposals for Designation of Centers.--A proposal submitted 
for the designation of a center under this section shall--
            ``(1) provide for close collaboration in the establishment 
        and operation of the center, and for the provision of care and 
        the conduct of research and education at the center, by a 
        Department facility or facilities in the same geographic area 
        which have a mission centered on traumatic brain injury care 
        and a Department facility in that area which has a mission of 
        providing tertiary medical care;
            ``(2) provide that no less than 50 percent of the funds 
        appropriated for the center for support of clinical care, 
        research, and education will be provided to the collaborating 
        facility or facilities that have a mission centered on 
        traumatic brain injury care; and
            ``(3) provide for a governance arrangement between the 
        collaborating Department facilities which ensures that the 
        center will be established and operated in a manner aimed at 
        improving the quality of traumatic brain injury care at the 
        collaborating facility or facilities which have a mission 
        centered on traumatic brain injury care.
    ``(d) Finding of Secretary.--The finding referred to in subsection 
(b)(2)(B) with respect to a proposal for designation of a site as a 
location of a center under this section is a finding by the Secretary, 
upon the recommendation of the Under Secretary for Health, that the 
facilities submitting the proposal have developed (or may reasonably be 
anticipated to develop) each of the following:
            ``(1) An arrangement with an accredited medical school that 
        provides education and training in traumatic brain injury care 
        and with which one or more of the participating Department 
        facilities is affiliated under which medical residents receive 
        education and training in traumatic brain injury care through 
        regular rotation through the participating Department 
        facilities so as to provide such residents with training in the 
        diagnosis and treatment of traumatic brain injury.
            ``(2) An arrangement under which nursing, social work, 
        counseling, or allied health personnel receive training and 
        education in traumatic brain injury care through regular 
        rotation through the participating Department facilities.
            ``(3) The ability to attract scientists who have 
        demonstrated achievement in research--
                    ``(A) into the evaluation of innovative approaches 
                to the design of traumatic brain injury care; or
                    ``(B) into the causes, prevention, and treatment of 
                traumatic brain injury.
            ``(4) The capability to evaluate effectively the activities 
        of the center, including activities relating to the evaluation 
        of specific efforts to improve the quality and effectiveness of 
        traumatic brain injury care provided by the Department at or 
        through individual facilities.
    ``(e) Peer Review Panel.--(1) In order to provide advice to assist 
the Secretary and the Under Secretary for Health to carry out their 
responsibilities under this section, the official within the central 
office of the Veterans Health Administration responsible for traumatic 
brain injury care shall establish a peer review panel to assess the 
scientific and clinical merit of proposals that are submitted to the 
Secretary for the designation of centers under this section.
    ``(2) The panel shall consist of experts in the fields of traumatic 
brain injury research, education and training, and clinical care. 
Members of the panel shall serve as consultants to the Department.
    ``(3) The panel shall review each proposal submitted to the panel 
by the official referred to in paragraph (1) and shall submit to that 
official its views on the relative scientific and clinical merit of 
each such proposal. The panel shall specifically determine with respect 
to each such proposal whether that proposal is among those proposals 
which have met the highest competitive standards of scientific and 
clinical merit.
    ``(4) The panel shall not be subject to the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
    ``(f) Award of Funding.--Clinical and scientific investigation 
activities at each center established under this section--
            ``(1) may compete for the award of funding from amounts 
        appropriated for the Department of Veterans Affairs medical and 
        prosthetics research account; and
            ``(2) shall receive priority in the award of funding from 
        such account insofar as funds are awarded to projects and 
        activities relating to traumatic brain injury.
    ``(g) Dissemination of Useful Information.--The Under Secretary for 
Health shall ensure that information produced by the research, 
education and training, and clinical activities of centers established 
under this section that may be useful for other activities of the 
Veterans Health Administration is disseminated throughout the Veterans 
Health Administration. Such dissemination shall be made through 
publications, through programs of continuing medical and related 
education provided through regional medical education centers under 
subchapter VI of chapter 74 of this title, and through other means. 
Such programs of continuing medical education shall receive priority in 
the award of funding.
    ``(h) Supervision of Centers.--The official within the central 
office of the Veterans Health Administration responsible for traumatic 
brain injury care shall be responsible for supervising the operation of 
the centers established pursuant to this section and shall provide for 
ongoing evaluation of the centers and their compliance with the 
requirements of this section.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--(1) There are authorized to 
be appropriated to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the basic 
support of the research and education and training activities of 
centers established pursuant to this section such sums as may be 
necessary.
    ``(2) In addition to funds appropriated for a fiscal year pursuant 
to the authorization of appropriations in paragraph (1), the Under 
Secretary for Health shall allocate to such centers from other funds 
appropriated for that fiscal year generally for the Department of 
Veterans Affairs medical services account and the Department of 
Veterans Affairs medical and prosthetics research account such amounts 
as the Under Secretary for Health determines appropriate to carry out 
the purposes of this section.
    ``(j) Annual Reports.--Not later than February 1 of each year the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on 
Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report 
on the status and activities of the centers for traumatic brain injury 
research, education, and clinical activities during the preceding 
fiscal year. Each such report shall include the following:
            ``(1) A description of the activities carried out at each 
        center and the funding provided by the Department for such 
        activities.
            ``(2) A description of the advances made at each of the 
        participating facilities of the center in research, education 
        and training, and clinical activities relating to traumatic 
        brain injury care and treatment.
            ``(3) A description of the actions taken by the Under 
        Secretary for Health pursuant to subsection (g) to disseminate 
        information derived from such activities throughout the 
        Veterans Health Administration.
            ``(4) The evaluation of the Secretary as to the 
        effectiveness of the centers in fulfilling the purposes of this 
        section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
7320 the following new item:

``7320A. Centers for traumatic brain injury research, education, and 
                            clinical activities.''.