I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2775 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain information 

publicly available on one internet website of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2021 

Mr. GALLEGO (for himself and Mr. JOYCE of Ohio) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain 

information publicly available on one internet website 

of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

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 ‘‘VA Quality Health 

5 Care Accountability and Transparency Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IMPROVED TRANSPARENCY BY DEPARTMENT OF 

7 VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

8 (a) PUBLICATION OF STAFFING AND QUALITY OF

9 CARE DATA.—Not later than one year after the date of 


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1 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Af2 fairs shall make publicly available on the Access to Care 

3 internet website of the Department of Veterans Affairs (or 

4 a successor website) the information under subsection (b). 

5 (b) INFORMATION INCLUDED.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The information published 

7 on the internet website under subsection (a) shall in8 clude— 

9 (A) any numeric indicators relating to 

10 timely care, effective care, safety, and veteran11 centered care that the Secretary collects at 

12 medical facilities of the Department pursuant 

13 to section 1703C of title 38, United States 

14 Code; 

15 (B) the staffing and vacancy information 

16 required by subparagraphs (A) through (D) of 

17 section 505(a)(1) of the VA MISSION Act of 

18 2018 (Public Law 115–182; 38 U.S.C. 301 

19 note); 

20 (C) the patient wait times information re21 quired by subsection (a) of section 206 of the 

22 Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act 

23 of 2014 (Public Law 113–146; 128 Stat. 

24 1780); and 


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1 (D) the patient safety, quality of care, and 

2 outcome measures required by subsection (b) of 

3 such section. 

4 (2) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall regularly 

5 update the internet website under subsection (a) to 

6 ensure that the information under paragraph (1) is 

7 the most current information required by the provi8 sions of law specified in such paragraph. 

9 (c) REQUIREMENTS OF INTERNET WEBSITE.—In ad10 dition to the requirements of section 206(b)(4) of the Vet11 erans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 

12 (Public Law 113–146; 128 Stat. 1781), the Secretary 

13 shall ensure that the internet website under subsection (a) 

14 meets the following requirements: 

15 (1) The internet website is directly accessible 

16 from— 

17 (A) the main homepage of the publicly ac18 cessible internet website of the Department; 

19 and 

20 (B) the main homepage of the publicly ac21 cessible internet website of each medical center 

22 of the Department. 

23 (2) Where practicable, the internet website is 

24 organized and searchable by each medical center of 

25 the Department. 


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1 (3) The internet website is easily understand2 able and usable by the general public. 

3 (d) CONSULTATION AND CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—In 

4 carrying out subsection (c)(3), the Secretary— 

5 (1) shall consult with veterans service organiza6 tions; and 

7 (2) may enter into a contract to design the 

8 internet website under subsection (a) with a com9 pany, non-profit entity, or other entity, specializing 

10 in website design that has substantial experience in 

11 presenting health care data and information in a 

12 easily understandable and usable manner to patients 

13 and consumers. 

14 (e) ACCURACY OF DATA.— 

15 (1) ANNUAL PROCESS.—Not later than 18 

16 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

17 the Secretary shall develop and implement an annual 

18 process to audit a generalizable subset of the data 

19 contained in the internet website under subsection 

20 (a) to assess the accuracy and completeness of the 

21 data. 

22 (2) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

23 each audit under subsection (a)— 

24 (A) determines the extent that the medical 

25 record information, clinical information, data, 


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1 and documentation provided by each medical 

2 center of the Department that is used to cal3 culate the information under subsection (b) is 

4 accurate and complete; 

5 (B) identifies any deficiencies in the re6 cording of medical record information, clinical 

7 information, or data by medical centers of the 

8 Department that affects the accuracy and com9 pleteness of the information under subsection 

10 (b); and 

11 (C) provides recommendations to medical 

12 centers of the Department on how to— 

13 (i) improve the accuracy and com14 pleteness of the medical record informa15 tion, clinical information, data, and docu16 mentation that is used to calculate the in17 formation under subsection (b); and 

18 (ii) ensure that each medical center of 

19 the Department provides such information 

20 in a uniform manner. 

21 (3) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than two 

22 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

23 and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 


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1 to Congress a report on the findings of each audit 

2 under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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