IIB 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2123 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
NOVEMBER 8, 2017 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
AN ACT 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 
ability of health care professionals to treat veterans 
through the use of telemedicine, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans E-Health and 
Telemedicine Support Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘VETS Act 
of 2017’’. 
SEC. 2. LICENSURE OF HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS OF 
THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
PROVIDING TREATMENT VIA TELEMEDICINE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 17 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1730A 
the following new section: 
‘‘§ 1730B. Licensure of health care professionals pro-
viding treatment via telemedicine 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any provision 
of law regarding the licensure of health care professionals, 
a covered health care professional may practice the health 
care profession of the health care professional at any loca-
tion in any State, regardless of where the covered health 
care professional or the patient is located, if the covered 
health care professional is using telemedicine to provide 
treatment to an individual under this chapter. 
‘‘(b) PROPERTY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.—Sub-
section (a) shall apply to a covered health care professional 
providing treatment to a patient regardless of whether the 
covered health care professional or patient is located in 
a facility owned by the Federal Government during such 
treatment. 
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‘‘(c) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section may 
be construed to remove, limit, or otherwise affect any obli-
gation of a covered health care professional under the Con-
trolled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.). 
‘‘(d) COVERED HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONAL DE-
FINED.—In this section, the term ‘covered health care pro-
fessional’ means a health care professional who— 
‘‘(1) is an employee of the Department ap-
pointed under the authority under sections 7306, 
7401, 7405, 7406, or 7408 of this title, or title 5; 
‘‘(2) is authorized by the Secretary to provide 
health care under this chapter; 
‘‘(3) is required to adhere to all quality stand-
ards relating to the provision of telemedicine in ac-
cordance with applicable policies of the Department; 
and 
‘‘(4) has an active, current, full, and unre-
stricted license, registration, or certification in a 
State to practice the health care profession of the 
health care professional.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended 
by inserting after the item relating to section 1730A the 
following new item: 
‘‘1730B. Licensure of health care professionals providing treatment via telemedi-
cine.’’. 
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(c) REPORT ON TELEMEDICINE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committee 
on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Com-
mittee on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Rep-
resentatives a report on the effectiveness of the use 
of telemedicine by the Department of Veterans Af-
fairs. 
(2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para-
graph (1) shall include an assessment of the fol-
lowing: 
(A) The satisfaction of veterans with tele-
medicine furnished by the Department. 
(B) The satisfaction of health care pro-
viders in providing telemedicine furnished by 
the Department. 
(C) The effect of telemedicine furnished by 
the Department on the following: 
(i) The ability of veterans to access 
health care, whether from the Department 
or from non-Department health care pro-
viders. 
(ii) The frequency of use by veterans 
of telemedicine. 
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(iii) The productivity of health care 
providers. 
(iv) Wait times for an appointment 
for the receipt of health care from the De-
partment. 
(v) The reduction, if any, in the use 
by veterans of in-person services at De-
partment facilities and non-Department fa-
cilities. 
(D) The types of appointments for the re-
ceipt of telemedicine furnished by the Depart-
ment that were provided during the 1-year pe-
riod preceding the submittal of the report. 
(E) The number of appointments for the 
receipt of telemedicine furnished by the Depart-
ment that were requested during such period, 
disaggregated by Veterans Integrated Service 
Network. 
(F) Savings by the Department, if any, in-
cluding travel costs, of furnishing health care 
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through the use of telemedicine during such pe-
riod. 
Passed the House of Representatives November 7, 
2017. 
Attest: 
KAREN L. HAAS, 
Clerk. 
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