Department of Veterans Affairs EHRM Standardization and Accountability Act

Subjects: Armed Forces and National Security


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1037 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Veterans Affairs EHRM 
Standardization and Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON CERTAIN ACTIVITIES BY SECRETARY OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS UNDER ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD MODERNIZATION 
              PROGRAM UNTIL CERTIFICATION OF SYSTEM STABILITY 
              IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) Certification of Improvement.--
            (1) Prohibition.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not 
        commence a program activity at a facility of the Veterans 
        Health Administration where no program activity has commenced 
        as of the date of the enactment of this Act until the date on 
        which the Secretary submits to the Committee on Veterans' 
        Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of 
        the House of Representatives a written certification that the 
        electronic health record system has met the improvement 
        objective described in paragraph (2).
            (2) Improvement objective.--The improvement objective 
        described in this paragraph is--
                    (A) the achievement of a minimum uptime and system-
                wide stability standard for the electronic health 
                record system, as defined by the Secretary in 
                consultation with the Under Secretary for Health, the 
                Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, and 
                the Chief Information Officer of the Department of 
                Veterans Affairs; and
                    (B) the submittal by the Secretary to the Committee 
                on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 
                Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives of a 
                report detailing the completion status of corrections 
                to the customization and configuration of workflow 
                designs related to the electronic health record system.
    (b) Certification of Readiness.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may not implement the 
        electronic health record system at a facility of the Veterans 
        Health Administration where such system has not been 
        implemented as of the date of the enactment of this Act until 
        the date on which the Under Secretary for Health, in 
        consultation with the director of such facility, submits to the 
        Secretary, and the Secretary transmits to the Committee on 
        Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' 
        Affairs of the House of Representatives, written certification 
        that the staff and infrastructure of such facility are 
        adequately prepared to receive such system.
            (2) Sunset.--This subsection shall terminate on the date on 
        which the Secretary has made the certification under paragraph 
        (1) at not less than one facility of the Veterans Health 
        Administration for each of the complexity levels of 1, 2, and 
        3.
    (c) Exclusion.--This section does not apply to any facility that is 
jointly operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the 
Department of Defense.
    (d) Report.--
            (1) Initial report.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 
        Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 
        on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 
        that contains the following:
                    (A) A comprehensive review of the systems and 
                networks of the Department of Defense within the 
                Federal electronic health record environment, including 
                the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, 
                and the potential impacts of such systems and networks 
                on the electronic health record system.
                    (B) With respect to certifications of the readiness 
                of a facility to receive the electronic health record 
                system under subsection (b)--
                            (i) the single, standard pre-deployment 
                        site readiness task list through which the 
                        Secretary will determine such readiness;
                            (ii) a determination by the Secretary of--
                                    (I) how the Secretary will align 
                                staff of the facility to the electronic 
                                health record system functionality; and
                                    (II) the minimum percentage 
                                requirement of staff at the facility 
                                who will complete training on such 
                                functionality or who will have their 
                                primary role to be working with such 
                                system to achieve such readiness.
                    (C) The national standard for workflows, system 
                interfaces, medical devices, clinical content, order 
                sets, and user roles as delineated by the clinical 
                complexity index of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
                for--
                            (i) facilities at complexity levels of 2 or 
                        3; and
                            (ii) facilities at complexity levels of 1.
            (2) Quarterly report.--Not less frequently than quarterly 
        following the initial report required under paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of 
        the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House 
        of Representatives a detailed report on--
                    (A) any site level deviations from the national 
                standard specified under paragraph (1)(C) and costs 
                associated with such deviations; and
                    (B) any changes to standard readiness task list 
                specified under paragraph (1)(B)(i).
    (e) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Electronic health record system.--The term ``electronic 
        health record system'' means the electronic health record 
        system implemented pursuant to the Electronic Health Record 
        Modernization Program.
            (2) Program activity.--The term ``program activity'' means 
        an activity under the Electronic Health Record Modernization 
        Program at a facility of the Veterans Health Administration, 
        including any site assessment (including State reviews), local 
        or national workshop, training, testing, or any other activity 
        conducted before the activation of the electronic health record 
        system.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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