[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2401 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2401

 To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Office of the 
 Medical Inspector within the Office of the Under Secretary for Health 
                 of the Department of Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 2014

  Mr. Tester (for himself, Mr. Moran, Mr. Begich, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
 Walsh, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Mrs. McCaskill) 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 establish the Office of the 
 Medical Inspector within the Office of the Under Secretary for Health 
                 of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    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 ``Increasing Medical Oversight in the 
Department of Veterans Affairs Act of 2014''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF THE MEDICAL INSPECTOR.

    (a) Establishment.--Subchapter I of chapter 73 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 7310. Office of the Medical Inspector
    ``(a) In General.--There is established in the Department within 
the Office of the Under Secretary for Health an office to be known as 
the `Office of the Medical Inspector' (in this section referred to as 
the `Office').
    ``(b) Head.--(1) The Medical Inspector shall be the head of the 
Office.
    ``(2) The Medical Inspector shall be appointed by the Secretary 
from among individuals qualified to perform the duties of the position.
    ``(3) The Medical Inspector shall report directly to the Under 
Secretary for Health.
    ``(c) Functions.--The functions of the Office shall include the 
following:
            ``(1) To review the quality of health care provided to 
        veterans--
                    ``(A) by the Department generally; and
                    ``(B) by the Department through contracts with non-
                Department health care providers.
            ``(2) To review offices of the Veterans Health 
        Administration that have an impact on the quality of health 
        care provided to veterans by the Department and the performance 
        of the Department in providing such care.
            ``(3) To review offices and facilities of the Veterans 
        Health Administration to ensure that policies and procedures of 
        the Department and the Veterans Health Administration are 
        applied consistently at all such offices and facilities.
            ``(4) To investigate any systemic issues, as determined by 
        the Medical Inspector, that arise within the Veterans Health 
        Administration, including the following:
                    ``(A) Improper issuance of credentials and 
                privileges to health care providers.
                    ``(B) Impediments to the access of veterans to 
                health care from the Department.
                    ``(C) Wait times for appointments by veterans at 
                medical facilities of the Department in excess of wait-
                time goals established by the Department.
                    ``(D) Intentional falsification by employees of the 
                Department of information or data with respect to wait 
                times for such appointments.
            ``(5) To establish temporary investigative teams to carry 
        out reviews or investigations described in paragraphs (1), (2), 
        (3), and (4) in response to specific incidents or inquiries, 
        including the following:
                    ``(A) Investigations of complaints by a veteran, a 
                family member of a veteran, or another individual that 
                may require a visit to a facility or facilities of the 
                Department.
                    ``(B) Assessments to examine potential systemic 
                issues within the Veterans Health Administration that 
                may require the conduct of surveys, the collection of 
                data, and the analysis of databases of the Department.
            ``(6) To recommend policies to promote economy and 
        efficiency in the administration of, and to prevent and detect 
        criminal activity, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in, programs 
        and operations of the Veterans Health Administration.
            ``(7) To carry out any other tasks required of the Office 
        by the Secretary or the Under Secretary for Health before, on, 
        or after the date of the enactment of this section.
    ``(d) Reports.--(1) Not later than 30 days after the date of the 
enactment of this section, and periodically thereafter, the Medical 
Inspector shall submit to the Secretary, the Under Secretary for 
Health, and Congress reports on any problems or deficiencies 
encountered in programs and operations of the Veterans Health 
Administration, including any recommendations for corrective actions.
    ``(2) Each report required by paragraph (1) shall be made available 
to the public on an Internet website of the Department.
    ``(3) Any other report prepared by the Medical Inspector in 
carrying out the functions of the Office under this section shall be--
            ``(A) submitted to Congress; and
            ``(B) made available to the public on an Internet website 
        of the Department.
    ``(e) Privacy Matters.--Any medical or other personal information 
obtained by the Office shall be protected from disclosure or misuse in 
accordance with the laws on privacy applicable to such information.''.
    (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 7309 the following new item:

``7310. Office of the Medical Inspector.''.
    (c) Conforming Amendments.--Section 7306(a) of such title is 
amended by--
            (1) redesignating paragraph (10) as paragraph (11); and
            (2) inserting after paragraph (9) the following new 
        paragraph (10):
            ``(10) The Medical Inspector, who shall be the head of the 
        Office of the Medical Inspector under section 7310 of this 
        title.''.
    (d) Continuation in Office.--The individual serving as the Medical 
Inspector of the Department of Veterans Affairs on the day before the 
date of the enactment of this Act may serve as the Medical Inspector of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs after that date until the date on 
which the Secretary of Veterans Affairs appoints an individual to be 
the Medical Inspector pursuant to section 7310(b)(2) of title 38, 
United States Code, as added by subsection (a).
                                 <all>