II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1154 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an advisory committee 

on the implementation by the Department of Veterans Affairs of an 

electronic health record. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2019 

Mr. TESTER (for himself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an 

advisory committee on the implementation by the Department of Veterans Affairs of an electronic health record. 

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 Electronic Health Record Advisory Com6 mittee Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IM2 PLEMENTATION OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH 

3 RECORD. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 of 

5 title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 7330D. Electronic Health Record Advisory Com8 mittee 

9 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

10 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec11 retary shall establish the Electronic Health Record Advi12 sory Committee (referred to in this section as the ‘Com13 mittee’) to provide guidance to the Secretary and Congress 

14 regarding the implementation of and transition to an elec15 tronic health record system of the Department. 

16 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—(1) The Committee shall be 

17 composed of 11 members appointed by the Secretary as 

18 follows: 

19 ‘‘(A) One physician. 

20 ‘‘(B) One nurse. 

21 ‘‘(C) One individual with expertise in clinical 

22 support. 

23 ‘‘(D) One individual with expertise in medical 

24 business and administration who is or was in an ex25 ecutive management position at an organization that 

26 provides inpatient and outpatient care. 


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1 ‘‘(E) Two information technology developers. 

2 ‘‘(F) Two individuals with expertise in health 

3 care information technology change management. 

4 ‘‘(G) One interoperability specialist. 

5 ‘‘(H) Two individuals who are members of a 

6 veterans service organization and are enrolled in the 

7 system of annual patient enrollment of the Depart8 ment established and operated under section 1705 of 

9 this title. 

10 ‘‘(2) No member of the Committee may— 

11 ‘‘(A) be an employee of the Federal Govern12 ment; 

13 ‘‘(B) have worked during the two-year period 

14 before joining the Committee for any company con15 tracted or subcontracted to the Department, the De16 partment of Defense, the Department of State, the 

17 Department of Health and Human Services, or the 

18 Department of Homeland Security for the delivery 

19 of any electronic health record or interoperability 

20 software; or 

21 ‘‘(C) have provided during the two-year period 

22 before joining the Committee any consulting or 

23 project management services relating to the delivery 

24 of any electronic health record or interoperability 


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1 software for any of the Federal agencies specified in 

2 subparagraph (B). 

3 ‘‘(3) No individual who was involved in the procure4 ment of an electronic health record for the Department, 

5 or privy to contract information relating to such procure6 ment, may be a member of the Committee. 

7 ‘‘(4)(A) A term for a member of the Committee shall 

8 be two years and a member may not serve more than three 

9 consecutive terms. 

10 ‘‘(B) Initial members, at the election of the Secretary, 

11 may be appointed for one or two terms, with six members 

12 appointed for two terms and five members appointed for 

13 one term. 

14 ‘‘(C) Any vacancy in the Committee shall be filled by 

15 the Secretary in the same manner as the original appoint16 ment and not later than 180 days after the occurrence 

17 of the vacancy. 

18 ‘‘(c) CHAIRPERSON AND VICE CHAIRPERSON.—The 

19 Committee shall select a Chairperson and Vice Chair20 person from among the members of the Committee. 

21 ‘‘(d) DUTIES.—The Committee shall carry out the 

22 following duties: 

23 ‘‘(1) Analyze the priorities and plans of the De24 partment for implementing the electronic health 


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1 record of the Department and provide advice on the 

2 best strategies to achieve those priorities and plans. 

3 ‘‘(2) Conduct a risk identification analysis and 

4 develop recommendations to best mitigate the most 

5 prominent risks. 

6 ‘‘(3) Conduct periodic, informal evaluations of 

7 the implementation of the electronic health record 

8 and suggest recommendations for such implementa9 tion. 

10 ‘‘(4) Tour facilities of the Department as those 

11 facilities begin use of the electronic health record to 

12 analyze implementation, including soliciting feedback 

13 from employees of the Department. 

14 ‘‘(5) Ensure the voices of stakeholders, vet15 erans, and other participants in the transition proc16 ess to the electronic health record are elevated. 

17 ‘‘(e) INITIAL MEETING.—(1) Not later than 90 days 

18 after the establishment of the Committee, the Committee 

19 shall hold the initial meeting of the Committee. 

20 ‘‘(2) The initial meeting under paragraph (1) may be 

21 conducted either in person or via telephone conference. 

22 ‘‘(f) MEETINGS, HEARINGS, AND SUBCOMMITTEES.— 

23 (1) After the initial meeting under subsection (e), the 

24 Committee shall meet at the call of the Chairperson, not 


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1 less frequently than monthly. Each such meeting may be 

2 conducted via telephone conference. 

3 ‘‘(2) The Committee shall meet with the Secretary 

4 in person, or a designee of the Secretary, not less fre5 quently than twice each year. 

6 ‘‘(3) A majority of the members of the Committee 

7 shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number of members 

8 may hold hearings. 

9 ‘‘(4)(A) The Committee may establish subcommittees 

10 that report to the Committee to enhance the function of 

11 the Committee. 

12 ‘‘(B) Any subcommittee established under subpara13 graph (A) may not supersede the authority of the Com14 mittee or provide direct advice or work products to the 

15 Department. 

16 ‘‘(C) The Inspector General of the Department and 

17 the Comptroller General of the United States, or a des18 ignee of the Inspector General and the Comptroller Gen19 eral, may attend any meeting of the Committee as observ20 ers, including the initial meeting under subsection (e), re21 gardless of whether the meeting is open to the public. 

22 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.—(1) The Committee shall submit to 

23 the Secretary, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

24 Senate, and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

25 House of Representatives an annual report on the activiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:52 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1154.IS S1154

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1 ties of the Committee during the year covered by the re2 port that includes recommendations for activities of the 

3 Committee during the following year. 

4 ‘‘(2) Not later than 90 days after receiving the report 

5 submitted under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit 

6 to the Committee, the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

7 the Senate, and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

8 House of Representatives a written response addressing 

9 any recommendations or questions raised by the Com10 mittee in such report. 

11 ‘‘(3) Not less frequently than twice each year during 

12 the first two years following the establishment of the Com13 mittee, and as the Committee determines necessary there14 after, the Committee shall submit to the Committee on 

15 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet16 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives such rec17 ommendations for legislative or administrative actions re18 lating to the work of the Committee as the Committee con19 siders appropriate. 

20 ‘‘(h) PAY AND REIMBURSEMENT FOR TRAVEL EX21 PENSES.—(1) Members of the Committee shall serve with22 out pay. 

23 ‘‘(2) A member of the Committee shall be allowed 

24 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, 

25 at rates authorized for employees of agencies under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:52 Apr 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1154.IS S1154

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1 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, 

2 while away from their home or regular places of business 

3 in the performance of services for the Committee. 

4 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION FROM CONTRACTORS.—On and 

5 after the date of the enactment of this section, the Sec6 retary shall include in any contract or contract renewal 

7 entered into with a person working on the electronic health 

8 record of the Department that is not part of the Federal 

9 Government a provision requiring that the person provide 

10 to the Committee, upon request by the Committee, records 

11 relating to the work of the person on the electronic health 

12 record. 

13 ‘‘(j) VETERANS SERVICE ORGANIZATION DE14 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘veterans service organi15 zation’ means an organization recognized by the Secretary 

16 for the representation of veterans under section 5902 of 

17 title 38, United States Code.’’. 

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

19 at the beginning of chapter 73 of such title is amended 

20 by inserting after the item relating to section 7330C the 

21 following new item: 

‘‘7330D. Electronic Health Record Advisory Committee.’’. 

Æ 


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