I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3951 
To establish in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs the Office of Health Care Quality. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 5, 2015 
Mr. BERA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To establish in the Veterans Health Administration of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs the Office of Health 
Care Quality. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF HEALTH CARE 
QUALITY IN VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRA-
TION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 73 of title 
38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
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‘‘§ 7310. Office of Health Care Quality 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is in the Veterans 
Health Administration an Office of Health Care Quality 
(hereinafter in this section referred to as the ‘Office’). The 
Office shall oversee the implementation and dissemination 
across all medical facilities of the Department of best 
practices, quality improvements, corrective actions, and 
Inspector General recommendations. 
‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—(1) The head of the Office shall be 
a Director, who shall report directly to the Under Sec-
retary for Health (without delegation). 
‘‘(2) Any person appointed as Director shall be— 
‘‘(A) an established expert in the field of health 
care quality, administration of medical facilities, or 
similar fields; and 
‘‘(B) qualified to carry out the duties of the Of-
fice based on demonstrated experience and expertise. 
‘‘(c) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Office are as 
follows: 
‘‘(1) To develop and maintain a system to pro-
vide notice to all medical facilities of the Department 
of any applicable best practices, quality improve-
ments, corrective actions, and Inspector General rec-
ommendations. 
‘‘(2) To monitor the compliance of such medical 
facilities with such best practices, quality improve-
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ments, corrective actions, and Inspector General rec-
ommendations. 
‘‘(d) RESOURCES.—The Secretary shall ensure that 
the Director has sufficient resources to carry out the re-
sponsibilities of the Director in a timely manner. 
‘‘(e) REPORT.—The Director shall submit to Con-
gress an annual report on the progress of the medical fa-
cilities of the Department in implementing applicable best 
practices, quality improvements, corrective actions, and 
Inspector General recommendations.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 
after the item relating to section 7309 the following new 
item: 
‘‘7310. Office of Health Care Quality.’’. 
(c) DEADLINE
FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later 
than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Director of the Office of Health Care Quality, as es-
tablished under section 7310 of title 38, United States 
Code, as added by subsection (a), shall develop an initial 
system for proving the notice required under such section 
7310. 
Æ 
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