II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3809 

To require electronic medical records at the Department of State for Foreign 

Service personnel. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2024 

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

to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To require electronic medical records at the Department 

of State for Foreign Service personnel. 

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 ‘‘Electronic Medical 

5 Records for Foreign Service Personnel Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that— 

8 (1) Foreign Service personnel at the Depart9 ment of State often serve with distinction in austere 


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1 places and under challenging conditions around the 

2 world with limited healthcare availability; 

3 (2) the Department’s exclusive use of paper 

4 medical records, which require Foreign Service per5 sonnel to carry their protected health information 

6 from post to post, puts our diplomats in danger by 

7 limiting the availability of their health information 

8 to Department medical personnel during critical 

9 health incidents; 

10 (3) electronic medical records are necessary, 

11 particularly as the Department opens new embassies 

12 in the South Pacific, thousands of miles from the 

13 nearest Department medical officer, who may not 

14 have access to up-to-date personnel medical files; 

15 (4) the lack of electronic medical records is 

16 even more important for mental health records, as 

17 the Department only has a small number of regional 

18 medical officer psychiatrists and relies heavily on 

19 telehealth for most Foreign Service personnel; and 

20 (5) due to the critical need for electronic med21 ical records, it is imperative that the Department 

22 address the situation quickly and focus on commer23 cially available solutions from contractors who have 

24 a track record of successfully implementing large25 scale projects of this type. 


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1 SEC. 3. ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS REQUIREMENT. 

2 Not later than December 31, 2027, the Secretary of 

3 State shall have fully implemented an electronic medical 

4 records system for all Foreign Service personnel that 

5 eliminates reliance on paper medical records and includes 

6 appropriate safeguards to protect personal privacy. 

7 SEC. 4. REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

9 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 180 days 

10 thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit to the ap11 propriate congressional committees a report on the 

12 progress made towards meeting the requirement under 

13 section 3. 

14 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required under sub15 section (a) shall include the following elements: 

16 (1) An updated timeline for implementation. 

17 (2) An estimated completion date. 

18 (3) The amounts expended to date on the re19 quired electronic medical records system. 

20 (4) The estimated amount needed to complete 

21 the system. 

22 (c) TERMINATION OF REQUIREMENT.—The reporting 

23 requirement under subsection (a) shall cease upon notifi24 cation to the appropriate congressional committees that 

25 electronic medical records have been completely imple26 mented for all Foreign Service personnel. 


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1 (d) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

2 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con3 gressional committees’’ means— 

4 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

5 the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and 

6 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

7 Committee on Appropriations of the House of Rep8 resentatives. 

Æ 


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