II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 925 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the ability of health 

care professionals to treat veterans through the use of telemedicine, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 25, 2017 

Mrs. ERNST (for herself and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

ability of health care professionals to treat veterans 

through the use of telemedicine, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans E-Health and 

5 Telemedicine Support Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘VETS Act 

6 of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LICENSURE OF HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS OF 

2 THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

3 PROVIDING TREATMENT VIA TELEMEDICINE. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 17 of title 38, United 

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1730A 

6 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 1730B. Licensure of health care professionals pro8 viding treatment via telemedicine 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provision 

10 of law regarding the licensure of health care professionals, 

11 a covered health care professional may practice the health 

12 care profession of the health care professional at any loca13 tion in any State, regardless of where the covered health 

14 care professional or the patient is located, if the covered 

15 health care professional is using telemedicine to provide 

16 treatment to an individual under this chapter. 

17 ‘‘(b) PROPERTY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—Sub18 section (a) shall apply to a covered health care professional 

19 providing treatment to a patient regardless of whether the 

20 covered health care professional or patient is located in 

21 a facility owned by the Federal Government during such 

22 treatment. 

23 ‘‘(c) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section may 

24 be construed to remove, limit, or otherwise affect any obli25 gation of a covered health care professional under the Con26 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). 


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1 ‘‘(d) COVERED HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL DE2 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘covered health care pro3 fessional’ means a health care professional who— 

4 ‘‘(1) is an employee of the Department ap5 pointed under the authority under section 7306, 

6 7401, 7405, 7406, or 7408 of this title or title 5; 

7 ‘‘(2) is authorized by the Secretary to provide 

8 health care under this chapter; 

9 ‘‘(3) is required to adhere to all quality stand10 ards relating to the provision of telemedicine in ac11 cordance with applicable policies of the Department; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(4) has an active, current, full, and unre14 stricted license, registration, or certification in a 

15 State to practice the health care profession of the 

16 health care professional.’’. 

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

18 at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended 

19 by inserting after the item relating to section 1730A the 

20 following new item: 

‘‘1730B. Licensure of health care professionals providing treatment via telemedicine.’’. 

21 (c) REPORT ON TELEMEDICINE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec24 retary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:25 Apr 25, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S925.IS S925

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1 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 

2 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

3 Representatives a report on the effectiveness of the 

4 use of telemedicine by the Department of Veterans 

5 Affairs. 

6 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para7 graph (1) shall include an assessment of the fol8 lowing: 

9 (A) The satisfaction of veterans with tele10 medicine furnished by the Department. 

11 (B) The satisfaction of health care pro12 viders in providing telemedicine furnished by 

13 the Department. 

14 (C) The effect of telemedicine furnished by 

15 the Department on the following: 

16 (i) The ability of veterans to access 

17 health care, whether from the Department 

18 or from non-Department health care pro19 viders. 

20 (ii) The frequency of use by veterans 

21 of telemedicine. 

22 (iii) The productivity of health care 

23 providers. 


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1 (iv) Wait times for an appointment 

2 for the receipt of health care from the De3 partment. 

4 (v) The reduction, if any, in the use 

5 by veterans of in-person services at De6 partment facilities and non-Department fa7 cilities. 

8 (D) The types of appointments for the re9 ceipt of telemedicine furnished by the Depart10 ment that were provided during the one-year 

11 period preceding the submittal of the report. 

12 (E) The number of appointments for the 

13 receipt of telemedicine furnished by the Depart14 ment that were requested during such period, 

15 disaggregated by Veterans Integrated Service 

16 Network. 

17 (F) Savings by the Department, if any, in18 cluding travel costs, of furnishing health care 

19 through the use of telemedicine during such pe20 riod. 

Æ 


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