IIB 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2123 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 8, 2017 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

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

4 of 2017’’. 

5 SEC. 2. LICENSURE OF HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS OF 

6 THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

7 PROVIDING TREATMENT VIA TELEMEDICINE. 

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

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

10 the following new section: 

11 ‘‘§ 1730B. Licensure of health care professionals pro12 viding treatment via telemedicine 

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

14 of law regarding the licensure of health care professionals, 

15 a covered health care professional may practice the health 

16 care profession of the health care professional at any loca17 tion in any State, regardless of where the covered health 

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

19 health care professional is using telemedicine to provide 

20 treatment to an individual under this chapter. 

21 ‘‘(b) PROPERTY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—Sub22 section (a) shall apply to a covered health care professional 

23 providing treatment to a patient regardless of whether the 

24 covered health care professional or patient is located in 

25 a facility owned by the Federal Government during such 

26 treatment. 


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

2 be construed to remove, limit, or otherwise affect any obli3 gation of a covered health care professional under the Con4 trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). 

5 ‘‘(d) COVERED HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL DE6 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘covered health care pro7 fessional’ means a health care professional who— 

8 ‘‘(1) is an employee of the Department ap9 pointed under the authority under sections 7306, 

10 7401, 7405, 7406, or 7408 of this title, or title 5; 

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

12 health care under this chapter; 

13 ‘‘(3) is required to adhere to all quality stand14 ards relating to the provision of telemedicine in ac15 cordance with applicable policies of the Department; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(4) has an active, current, full, and unre18 stricted license, registration, or certification in a 

19 State to practice the health care profession of the 

20 health care professional.’’. 

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

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

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

24 following new item: 

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


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1 (c) REPORT ON TELEMEDICINE.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

4 of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee 

5 on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com6 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep7 resentatives a report on the effectiveness of the use 

8 of telemedicine by the Department of Veterans Af9 fairs. 

10 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para11 graph (1) shall include an assessment of the fol12 lowing: 

13 (A) The satisfaction of veterans with tele14 medicine furnished by the Department. 

15 (B) The satisfaction of health care pro16 viders in providing telemedicine furnished by 

17 the Department. 

18 (C) The effect of telemedicine furnished by 

19 the Department on the following: 

20 (i) The ability of veterans to access 

21 health care, whether from the Department 

22 or from non-Department health care pro23 viders. 

24 (ii) The frequency of use by veterans 

25 of telemedicine. 


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1 (iii) The productivity of health care 

2 providers. 

3 (iv) Wait times for an appointment 

4 for the receipt of health care from the De5 partment. 

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

7 by veterans of in-person services at De8 partment facilities and non-Department fa9 cilities. 

10 (D) The types of appointments for the re11 ceipt of telemedicine furnished by the Depart12 ment that were provided during the 1-year pe13 riod preceding the submittal of the report. 

14 (E) The number of appointments for the 

15 receipt of telemedicine furnished by the Depart16 ment that were requested during such period, 

17 disaggregated by Veterans Integrated Service 

18 Network. 

19 (F) Savings by the Department, if any, in20 cluding travel costs, of furnishing health care 


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1 through the use of telemedicine during such pe2 riod. 

Passed the House of Representatives November 7, 

2017. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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