I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3951 

To establish in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs the Office of Health Care Quality. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 5, 2015 

Mr. BERA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish in the Veterans Health Administration of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs the Office of Health 

Care Quality. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF HEALTH CARE 

4 QUALITY IN VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRA5 TION. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 73 of title 

7 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following new section: 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 3951 IH

1 ‘‘§ 7310. Office of Health Care Quality 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is in the Veterans 

3 Health Administration an Office of Health Care Quality 

4 (hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Office’). The 

5 Office shall oversee the implementation and dissemination 

6 across all medical facilities of the Department of best 

7 practices, quality improvements, corrective actions, and 

8 Inspector General recommendations. 

9 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—(1) The head of the Office shall be 

10 a Director, who shall report directly to the Under Sec11 retary for Health (without delegation). 

12 ‘‘(2) Any person appointed as Director shall be— 

13 ‘‘(A) an established expert in the field of health 

14 care quality, administration of medical facilities, or 

15 similar fields; and 

16 ‘‘(B) qualified to carry out the duties of the Of17 fice based on demonstrated experience and expertise. 

18 ‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Office are as 

19 follows: 

20 ‘‘(1) To develop and maintain a system to pro21 vide notice to all medical facilities of the Department 

22 of any applicable best practices, quality improve23 ments, corrective actions, and Inspector General rec24 ommendations. 

25 ‘‘(2) To monitor the compliance of such medical 

26 facilities with such best practices, quality improveVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Nov 07, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3951.IH H3951

tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 3951 IH

1 ments, corrective actions, and Inspector General rec2 ommendations. 

3 ‘‘(d) RESOURCES.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

4 the Director has sufficient resources to carry out the re5 sponsibilities of the Director in a timely manner. 

6 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—The Director shall submit to Con7 gress an annual report on the progress of the medical fa8 cilities of the Department in implementing applicable best 

9 practices, quality improvements, corrective actions, and 

10 Inspector General recommendations.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

13 after the item relating to section 7309 the following new 

14 item: 

‘‘7310. Office of Health Care Quality.’’. 

15 (c) DEADLINE FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later 

16 than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

17 the Director of the Office of Health Care Quality, as es18 tablished under section 7310 of title 38, United States 

19 Code, as added by subsection (a), shall develop an initial 

20 system for proving the notice required under such section 

21 7310. 

Æ 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with BILLS