Title: Modernization of Medical Records Access for Veterans Act of 2017
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Modernization of Medical Records Access for Veterans Act of 2017
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out in at least one Veterans Integrated Services Network a pilot program for at least a 12-month period during which veterans enrolled in the VA's patient enrollment system will use a portable medical records storage system to store and share with VA health care providers and community health care providers records of their individual medical histories.
The VA shall seek to enter into a contract, using competitive procedures, with an appropriate entity to furnish such storage system.
The bill specifies system requirements, including: (1) the capability to store at least four gigabytes of electronic health records on a physical device no larger than a credit card, and (2) the capability to be used by substantially all electronic health records systems certified by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT on or before January 1, 2017.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3497 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3497

   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
   program establishing a secure, patient-centered, portable medical 
   records system, that would allow veterans to have access to their 
          Personal Health Information, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 27, 2017

  Mrs. McMorris Rodgers (for herself and Mr. Moulton) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
   program establishing a secure, patient-centered, portable medical 
   records system, that would allow veterans to have access to their 
          Personal Health Information, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Modernization of Medical Records 
Access for Veterans Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PILOT PROGRAM ON SECURE, 
              PATIENT-CENTERED, PORTABLE MEDICAL RECORDS STORAGE 
              SYSTEM.

    (a) Pilot Program.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall commence 
a pilot program under which veterans who are enrolled in the patient 
enrollment system under section 1705 of title 38, United States Code, 
use a portable medical records storage system described in subsection 
(e) to store and share with Department of Veterans Affairs health care 
providers and community health care providers, records of their 
individual medical history.
    (b) Selection of Locations.--The Secretary shall select not less 
than one Veterans Integrated Services Network in which to carry out the 
pilot program under subsection (a).
    (c) Contracts.--
            (1) Authority.--The Secretary shall seek to enter into a 
        contract using competitive procedures with an appropriate 
        entity for the provision of the medical records storage system 
        described in subsection (e).
            (2) Notice of competition.--Not later than 60 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
        issue a request for proposals for the contract described in 
        paragraph (1). Such request shall be full and open to any 
        contractor that has an existing commercially available medical 
        records storage capability described in subsection (e).
            (3) Selection.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
        the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall award a contract 
        to an offeror pursuant to the request for proposals under 
        paragraph (2) if at least one acceptable offer is submitted.
    (d) Duration of Pilot Program.--The Secretary shall carry out a 
pilot program under this section for a period of at least 12 months. 
After carrying out such program for 12 months, the Secretary may 
terminate the program, continue the program, expand the program to 
include additional locations, or implement the use of portable medical 
records storage systems on a national basis.
    (e) Requirements of Portable Medical Records Storage System.--A 
medical records storage system described in this subsection is a 
physical device that meets the following requirements:
            (1) Capability to store not less than four gigabytes of 
        electronic health records on a physical device, which is not 
        larger than the dimensions of a credit card, issued to each 
        veteran enrolled in the pilot program.
            (2) Capability to be used by substantially all electronic 
        health records systems certified by the Office of the National 
        Coordinator for Health IT on or before January 1, 2017.
            (3) Capability to limit access to electronic health records 
        stored on each device to the patient and health care providers.
            (4) Capability for health care providers to securely 
        access, annotate, and add electronic health records to the 
        physical device, including in instances where the health care 
        provider is not in possession of the physical storage device.
            (5) Requirement that all electronic health records 
        transferred from a health care provider over the internet to 
        the physical storage device be encrypted.
            (6) Requirement that the portable medical records system 
        can operate without persistent storage of any electronic health 
        records on the internet or within a cloud computing repository.
            (7) Capability to provide a replacement device containing 
        an up-to-date electronic health record, if the original 
        physical storage device has been removed from the owner's 
        possession or otherwise rendered inoperable.
    (f) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``dimensions of a credit card'' means three 
        and three-eighths inches in width, two and one-eighth inches in 
        length, and five-one hundred twenty-eighth of one inch in 
        depth.
            (2) The term ``electronic health records'' means electronic 
        documentation of physicians' notes, electronic viewing of lab 
        test results, diagnostic images and video, clinical decision 
        support, and interoperability with other systems.
    (g) Prohibition on New Appropriations.--No additional funds are 
authorized to be appropriated to carry out the requirements of this 
Act. Such requirements shall be carried out using amounts otherwise 
authorized to be appropriated for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
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