H. R. 2617—983 
costs, and such other factors as may be determined relevant 
by the Secretary. 
‘‘(C) The reliability and accuracy of models and forecasting 
methods used by the Department to project the budgetary 
needs of the Veterans Health Administration and how such 
models and forecasting methods inform budgetary trends. 
‘‘(D) The authorities and mechanisms under which the 
Secretary may furnish hospital care, medical services, and other 
health care at facilities of the Department and non-Department 
facilities, including through Federal and private sector partners 
and at joint medical facilities, and the effect of such authorities 
and mechanisms on eligibility and access to care. 
‘‘(E) The organization, workflow processes, and tools used 
by the Department to support clinical staffing, access to care, 
effective length-of-stay management and care transitions, posi-
tive patient experience, accurate documentation, and subse-
quent coding of inpatient services. 
‘‘(F) The efforts of the Department to recruit and retain 
staff at levels necessary to carry out the functions of the Vet-
erans Health Administration and the process used by the 
Department to determine staffing levels necessary for such 
functions. 
‘‘(G) The staffing level at each medical facility of the 
Department and the productivity of each health care provider 
at the medical facility, compared with health care industry 
performance metrics, which may include the following: 
‘‘(i) An assessment of the case load of, and number 
of patients treated by, each health care provider at such 
medical facility during an average week. 
‘‘(ii) An assessment of the time spent by each such 
health care provider on matters other than the case load 
of the health care provider, including time spent by the 
health care provider as follows: 
‘‘(I) At a medical facility that is affiliated with 
the Department. 
‘‘(II) Conducting research. 
‘‘(III) Training or supervising other health care 
professionals of the Department. 
‘‘(iii) An assessment of the complexity of health care 
conditions per patient treated by each health care provider 
at such medical facility during an average week. 
‘‘(H) The information technology strategies of the Depart-
ment with respect to furnishing and managing health care, 
including an identification of any weaknesses or opportunities 
with respect to the technology used by the Department, espe-
cially those strategies with respect to clinical documentation 
of hospital care, medical services, and other health care, 
including any clinical images and associated textual reports, 
furnished by the Department in facilities of the Department 
or non-Department facilities. 
‘‘(I) Business processes of the Veterans Health Administra-
tion, including processes relating to furnishing non-Department 
health care, insurance identification, third-party revenue collec-
tion, and vendor reimbursement, including an identification 
of mechanisms as follows: 
‘‘(i) To avoid the payment of penalties to vendors.
H. R. 2617—984 
‘‘(ii) To increase the collection of amounts owed to 
the Department for hospital care, medical services, or other 
health care provided by the Department for which 
reimbursement from a third party is authorized and to 
ensure that such amounts collected are accurate. 
‘‘(iii) To increase the collection of any other amounts 
owed to the Department with respect to hospital care, 
medical services, or other health care and to ensure that 
such amounts collected are accurate. 
‘‘(iv) To increase the accuracy and timeliness of pay-
ments by the Department to vendors and providers. 
‘‘(v) To reduce expenditures while improving the 
quality of care furnished. 
‘‘(J) The purchase, distribution, and use of pharmaceuticals, 
medical and surgical supplies, medical devices, and health care- 
related services by the Department, including the following: 
‘‘(i) The prices paid for, standardization of, and use 
by, the Department with respect to the following: 
‘‘(I) Pharmaceuticals. 
‘‘(II) Medical and surgical supplies. 
‘‘(III) Medical devices. 
‘‘(ii) The use by the Department of group purchasing 
arrangements to purchase pharmaceuticals, medical and 
surgical supplies, medical devices, and health care-related 
services. 
‘‘(iii) The strategy and systems used by the Department 
to distribute pharmaceuticals, medical and surgical sup-
plies, medical devices, and health care-related services to 
Veterans Integrated Service Networks and medical facili-
ties of the Department. 
‘‘(K) The competency of Department leadership with respect 
to culture, accountability, reform readiness, leadership develop-
ment, physician alignment, employee engagement, succession 
planning, and performance management. 
‘‘(L) The effectiveness of the authorities and programs of 
the Department to educate and train health personnel pursuant 
to section 7302 of this title. 
‘‘(M) The conduct of medical and prosthetic research of 
the Department. 
‘‘(N) The provision of assistance by the Department to 
Federal agencies and personnel involved in responding to a 
disaster or emergency. 
‘‘(O) Such additional matters as may be determined rel-
evant by the Secretary. 
‘‘(b) TIMING.—The private sector entity or entities carrying out 
an assessment pursuant to subsection (a) shall complete such 
assessment not later than 18 months after entering into the contract 
described in such paragraph. 
‘‘(c) LEVERAGING OF EXISTING DATA AND CONTRACTS.—To the 
extent practicable, the private sector entity or entities carrying 
out an assessment pursuant to subsection (a) shall— 
‘‘(1) make maximum use of existing data that has been 
compiled by the Department, compiled for the Department, 
or purchased by the Department, including data that has been 
collected for— 
‘‘(A) the performance of quadrennial market assess-
ments under section 7330C of this title;
H. R. 2617—985 
‘‘(B) the quarterly publication of information on staffing 
and vacancies with respect to the Veterans Health Adminis-
tration pursuant to section 505 of the VA MISSION Act 
of 2018 (Public Law 115–182; 38 U.S.C. 301 note); and 
‘‘(C) the conduct of annual audits pursuant to section 
3102 of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Vet-
erans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 
(Public Law 116–315; 38 U.S.C. 1701 note). 
‘‘(2) maximize the use of existing contracts and other agree-
ments of the Department for studies, analysis, data collection, 
or research in order to efficiently fulfill the requirements of 
this section. 
‘‘(d) PRIVATE SECTOR ENTITIES DESCRIBED.—A private sector 
entity described in this subsection is a private entity that— 
‘‘(1) has experience and proven outcomes in optimizing 
the performance of national health care delivery systems, 
including the Veterans Health Administration, other federal 
health care systems, and systems in the private, non-profit, 
or public health care sector; 
‘‘(2) specializes in implementing large-scale organizational 
and cultural transformations, especially with respect to health 
care delivery systems; and 
‘‘(3) is not currently under contract with the Department 
to provide direct or indirect patient care or related clinical 
care services or supplies under the laws administered by the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(e) PROGRAM INTEGRATOR.—(1) If the Secretary enters into 
contracts with more than one private sector entity under subsection 
(a) with respect to a single assessment under such subsection, 
the Secretary shall designate one such entity as the program inte-
grator. 
‘‘(2) The program integrator designated pursuant to paragraph 
(1) shall be responsible for coordinating the outcomes of the assess-
ments conducted by the private sector entities pursuant to such 
contracts. 
‘‘(f) REPORTS.—(1)(A) Not later than 60 days after completing 
an assessment pursuant to subsection (a), the private sector entity 
or entities carrying out such assessment shall submit to the Sec-
retary and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and 
the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives 
a report on the findings and recommendations of the private sector 
entity or entities with respect to such assessment. 
‘‘(B) Each report under subparagraph (A) with respect to an 
assessment shall include an identification of the following: 
‘‘(i) Any changes with respect to the matters included in 
such assessment since the date that is the later of the following: 
‘‘(I) The date on which the independent assessment 
under section 201 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and 
Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–146; 38 U.S.C. 
1701 note) was completed. 
‘‘(II) The date on which the last assessment under 
subsection (a) was completed. 
‘‘(ii) Any recommendations regarding matters to be covered 
by subsequent assessments under subsection (a), including any 
additional matters to include for assessment or previously 
assessed matters to exclude.
H. R. 2617—986 
‘‘(2) Not later than 30 days after receiving a report under 
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall publish such report in the Federal 
Register and on a publicly accessible internet website of the Depart-
ment. 
‘‘(3) Not later than 90 days after receiving a report 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 report outlining the feasi-
bility and advisability of implementing the recommendations made 
by the private sector entity or entities in such report received, 
including an identification of the timeline, cost, and any legislative 
authorities necessary for such implementation. 
‘‘(g) SUNSET.—The requirement to enter into contracts under 
subsection (a) shall terminate on December 31, 2055.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The table of sections at the begin-
ning of such subchapter is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 1704 the following new item: 
‘‘1704A. Independent assessments of health care delivery systems and management 
processes.’’. 
(c) DEADLINE FOR INITIAL ASSESSMENT.—The initial assessment 
under section 1704A of title 38, United States Code, as added 
by subsection (a), shall be completed by not later than December 
31, 2025. 
SEC. 195. IMPROVED TRANSPARENCY OF, ACCESS TO, AND USABILITY 
OF DATA PROVIDED BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
AFFAIRS. 
(a) REVIEW
OF TIMELINESS
AND QUALITY
OF CARE DATA.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall complete a review of data that is publicly available on 
the Access to Care internet website of the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs (or successor website)) (in this section referred 
to as the ‘‘Website’’). 
(2) ANALYSIS.—The review under paragraph (1) shall 
include an analysis of the access to and usability of the publicly 
available data on the Website, including a review of the avail-
ability of the following data: 
(A) Any numeric indicators relating to timely care, 
effective care, safety, and veteran-centered care that the 
Secretary collects at medical facilities of the Department 
pursuant to section 1703C of title 38, United States Code. 
(B) The patient wait times information required by 
subsection (a) of section 206 of the Veterans Access, Choice, 
and Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–146; 128 
Stat. 1780); and 
(C) the patient safety, quality of care, and outcome 
measures required by subsection (b) of such section 206. 
(3) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the review under para-
graph (1) of data described in such paragraph, the Secretary 
shall consult with veterans service organizations, veterans, and 
caregivers of veterans from geographically diverse areas and 
representing different eras of service in the Armed Forces to 
gather insights about potential modifications that could help 
improve the understanding and use of such data. 
(4) REPORT.—Not later than 30 days after completing the 
review under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall submit to the