[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1589 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1589

  To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs has an 
  up-to-date policy on reporting of cases of infectious diseases, to 
 require an independent assessment of the Veterans Integrated Service 
Networks and medical centers of the Department, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 28, 2013

   Mr. Burr introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of 
 Veterans Affairs to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs has an 
  up-to-date policy on reporting of cases of infectious diseases, to 
 require an independent assessment of the Veterans Integrated Service 
Networks and medical centers of the Department, 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 ``Improving Quality of Care Within the 
Department of Veterans Affairs Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS POLICY ON 
              REPORTING CASES OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT FACILITIES OF 
              THE DEPARTMENT.

    (a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 7330B. Reporting of infectious diseases
    ``(a) Reporting.--The Secretary shall ensure that the Department 
has in effect an up-to-date policy on reporting a notifiable infectious 
disease diagnosed at a facility under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 
in accordance with the provisions of State and local law in effect 
where such facility is located.
    ``(b) Notifiable Infectious Disease.--For purposes of this section, 
a notifiable infectious disease is any infectious disease that is--
            ``(1) on the list of nationally notifiable diseases 
        published by the Council of State and Territorial 
        Epidemiologists and the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention; or
            ``(2) covered by a provision of law of a State that 
        requires the reporting of infectious diseases.
    ``(c) Performance Measures.--The Secretary shall develop 
performance measures to assess whether and to what degree the directors 
of Veterans Integrated Service Networks and Department medical centers 
are complying with the policy required by subsection (a).''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--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. Reporting of infectious diseases.''.

SEC. 3. INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT OF THE VETERANS INTEGRATED SERVICE 
              NETWORKS AND MEDICAL CENTERS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 
              AFFAIRS.

    (a) Contract.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        seek to enter into a contract with an independent third-party 
        to perform the services covered by this section.
            (2) Timing.--The Secretary shall seek to enter into the 
        contract described in paragraph (1) not later than 270 days 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Independent Study.--
            (1) In general.--Under a contract between the Secretary and 
        an independent third-party under this section, the third party 
        shall carry out a study--
                    (A) to assess the organizational structures of 
                medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs; 
                and
                    (B) to improve succession planning among key 
                leadership roles at Veterans Integrated Service 
                Networks and medical centers of the Department.
            (2) Matters studied and proposed.--In carrying out the 
        study, the third party shall--
                    (A) assess whether organizational structure of the 
                medical centers of the Department is effective for the 
                furnishing of medical services, addressing issues that 
                arise regarding the furnishing of medical services, and 
                addressing standard business operations;
                    (B) propose one organizational chart for Department 
                medical centers with a common set of base position 
                descriptions;
                    (C) propose a base set of medical positions that 
                should be filled to ensure that the health care 
                provided to veterans by the Department is of good 
                quality; and
                    (D) identify which key leadership positions at 
                Veterans Integrated Service Networks and Department 
                medical centers should have succession plans and 
                propose how to implement such plans.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 90 days after the date on which the 
third party completes the study under this section, the Secretary shall 
submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 
on the results of such study.
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