1.Centers of excellence for
rural health research, education, and clinical activities
(a)Subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 38, United States
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
7330B.Centers of
excellence for rural health research, education, and clinical
activities
(a)The Secretary, through the Director of the Office of
Rural Health, shall establish and operate not less than one and not more than
five centers of excellence for rural health research, education, and clinical
activities, which shall—
(1)conduct research
on the provision of health services in rural areas;
(2)develop specific
models to be used by the Department in furnishing health services to veterans
in rural areas;
(3)provide education
and training for health care professionals of the Department on the furnishing
of health services to veterans in rural areas; and
(4)develop and
implement innovative clinical activities and systems of care for the Department
for the furnishing of health services to veterans in rural areas.
(b)The Secretary shall ensure that the centers
established under this section are located at health care facilities that are
geographically dispersed throughout the United States.
(c)The Secretary may not designate a health care facility
as a location for a center under this section unless—
(1)the peer review
panel established under subsection (d) determines that the proposal submitted
by such facility meets the highest competitive standards of scientific and
clinical merit; and
(2)the Secretary
determines that such facility has, or may reasonably be anticipated to develop,
the following:
(A)An arrangement
with an accredited medical school to provide residents with education and
training in health services for veterans in rural areas.
(B)The ability to
attract the participation of scientists who are capable of ingenuity and
creativity in health care research efforts.
(C)A policymaking
advisory committee, composed of appropriate health care and research
representatives of the facility and of the affiliated school or schools, to
advise the directors of such facility and such center on policy matters
pertaining to the activities of such center during the period of the operation
of such center.
(D)The capability to
conduct effectively evaluations of the activities of such center.
(d)Panel To
evaluate proposals(1)The Director of the
Office of Rural Health shall establish a panel—
(A)to evaluate the
scientific and clinical merit of proposals submitted to establish centers under
this section; and
(B)to provide advice
to the Director regarding the implementation of this section.
(2)The panel shall
review each proposal received from the Secretary and shall submit its views on
the relative scientific and clinical merit of each such proposal to the
Secretary.
(3)The panel
established under paragraph (1) shall be comprised of experts in the fields of
public health research, education, and clinical care.
(4)Members of the
panel shall serve as consultants to the Department for a period not to exceed
two years.
(5)The panel shall
not be subject to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
(e)Not
later than April 1 of each year, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a
report on the centers established under this section. Such report shall
include—
(1)the results of research conducted under
subsection (a)(1);
(2)an evaluation of models related to
furnishing health services to veterans in rural areas developed under
subsection (a)(2);
(3)an evaluation of the education and training
provided under subsection (a)(3); and
(4)an evaluation of clinical activities or
systems of care related to furnishing health services to veterans in rural
areas developed under subsection (a)(4).
(f)(1)There are authorized to
be appropriated to the Medical Care Account and the Medical and Prosthetics
Research Account of the Department of Veterans Affairs such sums as may be
necessary for the support of the research and education activities of the
centers operated under this section.
(2)There shall be
allocated to the centers operated under this section, from amounts authorized
to be appropriated to the Medical Care Account and the Medical and Prosthetics
Research Account by paragraph (1), such amounts as the Under Secretary of
health considers appropriate for such centers. Such amounts shall be allocated
through the Director of the Office of Rural Health.
(3)Activities of
clinical and scientific investigation at each center operated under this
section—
(A)shall be eligible
to compete for the award of funding from funds appropriated for the Medical and
Prosthetics Research Account; and
(B)shall receive
priority in the award of funding from such account to the extent that funds are
awarded to projects for research in the care of rural
veterans.
.
(b)The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 73 of
such title is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 7330A the
following new item:
7330B. Centers of excellence for rural
health research, education, and clinical
activities.
.