II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1319 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a continuing medical 

education program for non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical professionals who treat veterans to increase knowledge and recognition of 

medical conditions common to veterans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 8, 2017 

Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish 

a continuing medical education program for non-Department of Veterans Affairs medical professionals who treat 

veterans to increase knowledge and recognition of medical conditions common to veterans, 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 ‘‘Community Care Core 

5 Competency Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS CONTINUING 

2 EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR CERTAIN NON3 DEPARTMENT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

6 Affairs shall establish a program to provide con7 tinuing medical education material to non-Depart8 ment medical professionals with the goal of— 

9 (A) increasing knowledge and recognition 

10 of medical conditions common to veterans; and 

11 (B) improving outreach to veterans and 

12 family members of veterans. 

13 (2) EDUCATION PROVIDED.—The program shall 

14 include education on the following: 

15 (A) Dealing with patients who are veterans 

16 or family members of veterans. 

17 (B) Identifying and treating common men18 tal and physical conditions of veterans and fam19 ily members of veterans. 

20 (C) The health care system of the Depart21 ment of Veterans Affairs. 

22 (D) Such other matters as the Secretary 

23 considers appropriate. 

24 (b) DURATION OF PROGRAM.—The program shall be 

25 carried out during the five-year period beginning on the 

26 date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 (c) MATERIAL PROVIDED.—The continuing medical 

2 education material provided to non-Department medical 

3 professionals under the program shall be the same mate4 rial provided to medical professionals of the Department 

5 to ensure that all medical professionals treating veterans 

6 have access to the same materials, which supports core 

7 competencies throughout the community. 

8 (d) ADMINISTRATION OF PROGRAM.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall admin10 ister the program to participating non-Department 

11 medical professionals through an Internet website of 

12 the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

13 (2) CURRICULUM AND CREDIT PROVIDED.—The 

14 Secretary shall determine the curriculum of the pro15 gram and the number of hours of credit to provide 

16 to participating non-Department medical profes17 sionals for continuing medical education. 

18 (3) ACCREDITATION.—The Secretary shall en19 sure that the program is accredited in as many 

20 States as practicable. 

21 (4) CONSISTENCY WITH EXISTING RULES.—The 

22 Secretary shall ensure that the program is consistent 

23 with the rules and regulations of the following: 

24 (A) The medical licensing agency of each 

25 State in which the program is accredited. 


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1 (B) Such medical credentialing organiza2 tions as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

3 (5) USER COST.—The Secretary shall carry out 

4 the program at no cost to participating non-Depart5 ment medical professionals. 

6 (e) NON-DEPARTMENT MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL DE7 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘non-Department med8 ical professional’’ means any individual who is licensed by 

9 an appropriate medical authority in the United States and 

10 in good standing, is not an employee of the Department 

11 of Veterans Affairs, and provides care to veterans or fam12 ily members of veterans under the laws administered by 

13 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

Æ 


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