I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2505 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program 

to utilize tele-health platforms to assist in the treatment of veterans 

living in rural areas who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder 

or traumatic brain injury. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2009 

Mr. TEAGUE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a pilot program to utilize tele-health platforms to assist 

in the treatment of veterans living in rural areas who 

suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic 

brain injury. 

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 ‘‘Reaching Rural Vet5 erans through Telehealth Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING NEED TO USE 

2 TELE-HEALTH PLATFORMS IN TREATING 

3 VETERANS LIVING IN RURAL AREAS SUF4 FERING FROM POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DIS5 ORDER OR TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that— 

7 (1) members of the Armed Forces serving in 

8 Iraq or Afghanistan are being exposed to conditions 

9 in combat operations that increase the risk of the 

10 members developing post-traumatic stress disorder 

11 or incurring a traumatic brain injury; 

12 (2) veterans living in rural areas need better ac13 cess to treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder 

14 and traumatic brain injury; and 

15 (3) the use of tele-health platforms in the treat16 ment of post-traumatic stress disorder and trau17 matic brain injury can reduce the need for travel by 

18 providers and veterans and their families, thereby 

19 also reducing costs, time, stress, and other factors 

20 associated with travel. 

21 SEC. 3. TELE-HEALTH PILOT PROJECT FOR TREATMENT OF 

22 VETERANS LIVING IN RURAL AREAS WHO 

23 SUFFER FROM POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DIS24 ORDER OR TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. 

25 (a) PILOT PROJECT.—The Secretary of Veterans Af26 fairs shall award grants for the establishment three pilot 


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1 projects to use tele-health platforms to work, in collabora2 tion with State behavioral health systems, other Federal 

3 agencies, and other entities as applicable, to serve the 

4 needs of veterans living in rural areas who suffer from 

5 post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. 

6 Utilizing tele-health platforms, the pilot projects shall pro7 vide treatment, education, and evaluation to veterans who 

8 suffer from post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic 

9 brain injury and support to their families. 

10 (b) TELE-HEALTH PLATFORM DEFINED.—The term 

11 ‘‘tele-health platform’’ means the use of electronic infor12 mation and telecommunications technologies to support 

13 long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional 

14 health-related education, public health, and health admin15 istration. 

16 (c) PROJECT GOALS.— 

17 (1) EDUCATION.—Education efforts under the 

18 pilot projects shall be designed to teach primary care 

19 providers how to diagnosis and manage clients with 

20 post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain in21 jury, be standardized and replicable using validated 

22 tools, and require ongoing evaluation and improve23 ment of the education and training in diagnosis and 

24 treatment. 


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1 (2) TREATMENT.—Treatment efforts under the 

2 pilot projects shall be designed to be comprehensive 

3 and accessible to veterans on a 24-hour basis, 7 days 

4 a week, 365 days a year. 

5 (d) PROVIDER PARTICIPATION.—Participation in the 

6 pilot projects shall be multi-disciplinary and broad-based, 

7 including medical clinicians, trainers, educators, research8 ers, community members, and other interested persons. 

9 (e) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall se10 lect grant recipients on the basis of the following: 

11 (1) Geographical diversity. 

12 (2) Reaching the most possible veterans not 

13 currently receiving treatment for post traumatic 

14 stress disorder or traumatic brain injury. 

15 (3) Creating programs in Veteran Integrated 

16 Service Networks that are designated by the Sec17 retary to be ‘‘rural’’ or ‘‘highly rural’’. 

18 (f) ALLOWABLE USES OF FUNDS.— 

19 (1) TRAINING.—Grant funds may be used for 

20 training practitioners, therapists, psychologists, psy21 chiatrists, case managers, and other professionals to 

22 treat veterans suffering from post traumatic stress 

23 disorder or traumatic brain injury, including a focus 

24 on teaching primary care providers to diagnosis and 

25 manage patients with post traumatic stress disorder. 


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1 (2) RESEARCH.—Grant funds may be used for 

2 testing a variety of clinical and case management 

3 modalities to provide ‘‘Best Practice’’ treatment for 

4 specific populations, such as veterans who served in 

5 a regular component of the Armed Forces, veterans 

6 who served in reserve components, female military 

7 personnel, children of military personnel, parents, 

8 and other significant others. 

9 (3) PURCHASING.—Grant funds may be used 

10 for purchasing equipment related to tele-health plat11 forms, such as monitors, speakers, webcams, and 

12 necessary software. 

13 (4) ORGANIZATION OF PROJECTS.—Grant re14 cipients may partner and contract with local commu15 nity groups that are already providing services in a 

16 rural area, such as parenting, sexual assault preven17 tion and recovery services, domestic violence preven18 tion and recovery services, food banks, and other so19 cial services. Grant funds may be used to provide 

20 stipends to clinicians and providers involved in a 

21 pilot project. 

22 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Grant recipients 

23 shall provide a quarterly report to the Secretary that will 

24 include the following: 

25 (1) Results under the pilot project involved. 


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1 (2) Number of veterans treated. 

2 (3) Individual client progress. 

3 (4) Demonstrative service coordination. 

4 (5) Client demographics. 

5 (6) Outcomes and information that can be 

6 shared with local, State, and Federal government 

7 agencies. 

Æ 


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