1.This Act may be cited as the
Rural Veterans Health Care Improvement
Act
.
2.Five-year strategic
plan for Office of Rural Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs
(a)
(1)Not later than 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Office of
Rural Health of the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of
Veterans Affairs shall develop a strategic plan for the Office of Rural Health
for improving access to, and the quality of, health care services for veterans
in rural areas that covers the five-year period commencing on the date of the
issuance of the plan by the Director.
(2)The
Director of the Office of Rural Health shall develop the plan in consultation
with the following:
(A)The Director of
the Health Care Retention and Recruitment Office of the Department.
(B)The Director of
the Office of Quality and Performance of the Department.
(C)The Director of
the Office of Care Coordination Services of the Department.
(b)The
plan required by subsection (a) shall include, for the period covered by the
plan, the following:
(1)Goals and
objectives for the recruitment and retention by the Veterans Health
Administration of health care personnel in rural areas.
(2)Goals and
objectives for ensuring timeliness and improving quality in the delivery of
health care services by the Veterans Health Administration in rural areas
through contract and fee-basis providers.
(3)Goals and
objectives for the implementation, expansion, and enhanced use of telemedicine
services by the Veterans Health Administration in rural areas, including
through coordination with other appropriate offices of the Department.
(4)Goals and
objectives for ensuring the full and effective use of mobile outpatient clinics
by the Veterans Health Administration for the provision of health care services
in rural areas, including goals and objectives for the use of such clinics on a
fully mobile basis and for encouraging health care providers who provide
services through such clinics to do so in rural areas.
(5)Procedures for
soliciting from each Veterans Health Administration facility that serves a
rural area the following:
(A)A statement of
the clinical capacity of such facility.
(B)The procedures of
such facility in the event of a medical, surgical, or mental health emergency
outside the scope of the clinical capacity of such facility.
(C)The procedures
and mechanisms of such facility for the provision and coordination of health
care for women veterans, including procedures and mechanisms for coordination
with local hospitals and health care facilities, oversight of primary care and
fee-basis care, and management of specialty care.
(6)Goals and
objectives for the modification of the funding allocation mechanisms of the
Office of Rural Health in order to ensure that the Office distributes funds to
components of the Department to best achieve the goals and objectives of the
Office and in a timely manner.
(7)Goals and
objectives for the coordination of, and sharing of resources with respect to,
the provision of health care services to veterans in rural areas between the
Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, the Indian Health
Service of the Department of Health and Human Services, and other Federal
agencies, as appropriate and prudent.
(8)Specific
milestones for the achievement of the goals and objectives developed for the
plan.
(9)Procedures for
ensuring the effective implementation of the plan.
(c)Not later than 90 days after the date of the issuance of
the plan required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall
transmit the plan to Congress, together with such comments and recommendations
in connection with the plan as the Secretary considers appropriate.