Title: Ethical Patient Care for Veterans Act of 2017
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Ethical Patient Care for Veterans Act of 2017
This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to ensure that each VA physician is informed of the duty to report any covered activity committed by another physician that the physician witnesses or otherwise directly discovers to the applicable state licensing authority within five days.
"Covered activity" means any activity occurring in a VA medical facility that consists of or causes the provision of impaired, incompetent, or unethical health care that requires direct reporting under the Code of Medical Ethics of the American Medical Association.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4059 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4059

To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that physicians of the 
 Department of Veterans Affairs fulfill the ethical duty to report to 
State licensing authorities impaired, incompetent, and unethical health 
                            care activities.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 12, 2017

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that physicians of the 
 Department of Veterans Affairs fulfill the ethical duty to report to 
State licensing authorities impaired, incompetent, and unethical health 
                            care activities.

    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 ``Ethical Patient Care for Veterans 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. DUTY TO REPORT IMPAIRED, INCOMPETENT, AND UNETHICAL HEALTH CARE 
              ACTIVITIES.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 74 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 7330C. Duty to report impaired, incompetent, and unethical 
              health care activities
    ``(a) Reporting to State Licensing Authority.--In addition to 
confidential reporting under the quality-assurance program pursuant to 
section 7311(b)(4) of this title and any other reporting authorized or 
required by the Secretary, the Secretary shall ensure that each 
physician of the Department is informed of the duty of the physician to 
report directly any covered activity committed by another physician 
that the physician witnesses or otherwise directly discovers to the 
applicable licensing authority of each State in which the physician who 
is the subject of the report is licensed to practice medicine.
    ``(b) Timing of Reporting.--Each physician of the Department shall 
make a direct report to the State licensing authority of a covered 
activity under subsection (a) not later than five days after the date 
on which the physician witnesses or otherwise directly discovers the 
covered activity.
    ``(c) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) The term `covered activity' means any activity 
        occurring in a medical facility of the Department that consists 
        of or causes the provision of impaired, incompetent, or 
        unethical health care that requires direct reporting under 
        opinion number 9.031 of the Code of Medical Ethics of the 
        American Medical Association.
            ``(2) The term `physician of the Department' includes any 
        contractor who is a physician at a medical facility of the 
        Department.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
7330B the following new item:

``7330C. Duty to report impaired, incompetent, and unethical health 
                            care activities.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Section 7462(a)(1)(A) of such title is 
amended by inserting before the semicolon the following: ``, including 
pursuant to section 7330C(c) of this title''.
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