[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2834 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2834

  To provide for a pilot program to be conducted by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs through the establishment of an electronic database to 
 enable healthcare facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs in 
Iowa to share patient information with the State of Iowa Veterans Home 
          on patients of both those facilities and that home.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 23, 2003

  Mr. Latham introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To provide for a pilot program to be conducted by the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs through the establishment of an electronic database to 
 enable healthcare facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs in 
Iowa to share patient information with the State of Iowa Veterans Home 
          on patients of both those facilities and that home.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PILOT PROGRAM FOR CREATION OF ELECTRONIC DATABASE OF 
              AUTHORIZED PATIENT INFORMATION.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall conduct a 
pilot program to determine the feasibility of electronically sharing 
individually identifiable health information of patients of a facility 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs with State veterans homes. In 
order to conduct this pilot program, the Secretary shall enter into an 
agreement with the appropriate state official of Iowa to create an 
electronic database system that contains individually identifiable 
health information on any individual who is a patient of both a 
facility of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Iowa and the State of 
Iowa Veterans Home and who gives an authorization for inclusion of that 
information in the database.
    (b) Terms of Agreement.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
require that the agreement under subsection (a) include:
            (1) Standards for determining which officials at the Iowa 
        Veterans Home and at the Department of Veterans Affairs may 
        access the database.
            (2) Provisions for an individual to revoke any 
        authorization given by that individual under subsection (a).
            (3) Provisions for removing any individually identifiable 
        health information for which the individual revokes an 
        authorization, pursuant to the standards described in paragraph 
        (2).
            (4) Such additional terms and conditions as the Secretary 
        considers necessary to carry out the provisions of subsection 
        (a).
    (c) Implementation Deadline.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall enter into the agreement under subsection (a) not later than six 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (d) Duration of Program.--The pilot program shall be conducted 
during the three-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
    (e) Report.--Not later than six months after the end of the pilot 
program under this section, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
submit to Congress a report providing the results of the pilot program. 
The Secretary shall include in the report the following:
            (1) The Secretary's assessment of the benefits to veterans 
        of the pilot program.
            (2) The Secretary's assessment of the effect of the pilot 
        program on the Department of Veterans Affairs, including the 
        effect on delivery of health care to veterans.
            (3) Any other findings and conclusions of the Secretary 
        with respect to the pilot program.
            (4) Any recommendations of the Secretary for continuation 
        of the pilot program or for extension of the pilot program to 
        other States.
                                 <all>