II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1037 

To prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from carrying out certain 

activities under the Electronic Health Record Modernization Program 

until certification of system stability improvements. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2023 

Mr. MORAN (for himself, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. 

TILLIS, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mr. RISCH, 

Mr. CRAPO, Mr. DAINES, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To prohibit the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from carrying 

out certain activities under the Electronic Health Record 

Modernization Program until certification of system stability improvements. 

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 ‘‘Department of Vet5 erans Affairs EHRM Standardization and Accountability 

6 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ACTIVITIES BY SEC2 RETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS UNDER 

3 ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD MODERNIZA4 TION PROGRAM UNTIL CERTIFICATION OF 

5 SYSTEM STABILITY IMPROVEMENTS. 

6 (a) CERTIFICATION OF IMPROVEMENT.— 

7 (1) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary of Veterans 

8 Affairs may not commence a program activity at a 

9 facility of the Veterans Health Administration where 

10 no program activity has commenced as of the date 

11 of the enactment of this Act until the date on which 

12 the Secretary submits to the Committee on Vet13 erans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

14 Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a 

15 written certification that the electronic health record 

16 system has met the improvement objective described 

17 in paragraph (2). 

18 (2) IMPROVEMENT OBJECTIVE.—The improve19 ment objective described in this paragraph is— 

20 (A) the achievement of a minimum uptime 

21 and system-wide stability standard for the elec22 tronic health record system, as defined by the 

23 Secretary in consultation with the Under Sec24 retary for Health, the Assistant Secretary for 

25 Information and Technology, and the Chief InVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Apr 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1037.IS S1037

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1 formation Officer of the Department of Vet2 erans Affairs; and 

3 (B) the submittal by the Secretary to the 

4 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

5 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

6 House of Representatives of a report detailing 

7 the completion status of corrections to the 

8 customization and configuration of workflow de9 signs related to the electronic health record sys10 tem. 

11 (b) CERTIFICATION OF READINESS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may not im13 plement the electronic health record system at a fa14 cility of the Veterans Health Administration where 

15 such system has not been implemented as of the 

16 date of the enactment of this Act until the date on 

17 which the Under Secretary for Health, in consulta18 tion with the director of such facility, submits to the 

19 Secretary, and the Secretary transmits to the Com20 mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the 

21 Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 

22 Representatives, written certification that the staff 

23 and infrastructure of such facility are adequately 

24 prepared to receive such system. 


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1 (2) SUNSET.—This subsection shall terminate 

2 on the date on which the Secretary has made the 

3 certification under paragraph (1) at not less than 

4 one facility of the Veterans Health Administration 

5 for each of the complexity levels of 1, 2, and 3. 

6 (c) EXCLUSION.—This section does not apply to any 

7 facility that is jointly operated by the Department of Vet8 erans Affairs and the Department of Defense. 

9 (d) REPORT.— 

10 (1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 30 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec12 retary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ 

13 Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet14 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a re15 port that contains the following: 

16 (A) A comprehensive review of the systems 

17 and networks of the Department of Defense 

18 within the Federal electronic health record envi19 ronment, including the Defense Enrollment Eli20 gibility Reporting System, and the potential im21 pacts of such systems and networks on the elec22 tronic health record system. 

23 (B) With respect to certifications of the 

24 readiness of a facility to receive the electronic 

25 health record system under subsection (b)— 


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1 (i) the single, standard pre-deploy2 ment site readiness task list through which 

3 the Secretary will determine such readi4 ness; 

5 (ii) a determination by the Secretary 

6 of— 

7 (I) how the Secretary will align 

8 staff of the facility to the electronic 

9 health record system functionality; 

10 and 

11 (II) the minimum percentage re12 quirement of staff at the facility who 

13 will complete training on such 

14 functionality or who will have their 

15 primary role to be working with such 

16 system to achieve such readiness. 

17 (C) The national standard for workflows, 

18 system interfaces, medical devices, clinical con19 tent, order sets, and user roles as delineated by 

20 the clinical complexity index of the Department 

21 of Veterans Affairs for— 

22 (i) facilities at complexity levels of 2 

23 or 3; and 

24 (ii) facilities at complexity levels of 1. 


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1 (2) QUARTERLY REPORT.—Not less frequently 

2 than quarterly following the initial report required 

3 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to 

4 the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate 

5 and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

6 House of Representatives a detailed report on— 

7 (A) any site level deviations from the na8 tional standard specified under paragraph 

9 (1)(C) and costs associated with such devi10 ations; and 

11 (B) any changes to standard readiness 

12 task list specified under paragraph (1)(B)(i). 

13 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEM.— 

15 The term ‘‘electronic health record system’’ means 

16 the electronic health record system implemented pur17 suant to the Electronic Health Record Moderniza18 tion Program. 

19 (2) PROGRAM ACTIVITY.—The term ‘‘program 

20 activity’’ means an activity under the Electronic 

21 Health Record Modernization Program at a facility 

22 of the Veterans Health Administration, including 

23 any site assessment (including State reviews), local 

24 or national workshop, training, testing, or any other 


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1 activity conducted before the activation of the elec2 tronic health record system. 

Æ 


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