[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2499 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2499

    To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out an 
 information technology system and prioritize certain requirements to 
   manage supply chains for medical facilities of the Department of 
                           Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 6, 2023

   Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia introduced the following bill; which was 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out an 
 information technology system and prioritize certain requirements to 
   manage supply chains for medical facilities 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 ``VA Supply Chain Management System 
Authorization Act''.

SEC. 2. MANAGEMENT OF SUPPLY CHAINS FOR MEDICAL FACILITIES OF 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may carry out a covered information 
technology system that--
            (1) is cloud-based;
            (2) includes functions relating to--
                    (A) inventory management of both expendable and 
                nonexpendable items covered by the system, with respect 
                to both--
                            (i) physical inventory; and
                            (ii) perpetual inventory;
                    (B) management of the receipt of such items, with 
                respect to--
                            (i) intake;
                            (ii) returns; and
                            (iii) the identification of such items that 
                        are recalled;
                    (C) management of the storage of such items, with 
                respect to--
                            (i) local storage; and
                            (ii) centralized storage at a medical 
                        facility or warehousing at a different location 
                        for one or more medical facilities;
                    (D) management of the distribution of such items;
                    (E) the generation and scanning of barcodes or the 
                use of radio frequency identification technology or 
                other similar inventory tracking technology;
                    (F) reporting, consisting of--
                            (i) standard or preexisting reports; and
                            (ii) customizable or custom-generated 
                        reports; and
                    (G) either in the system itself or through an 
                interface with an external information technology 
                system--
                            (i) capital asset management;
                            (ii) maintenance of a catalog of available 
                        supplies; and
                            (iii) lifecycle tracking from acquisition 
                        of such items through the disposal of such 
                        items;
            (3) with respect to the items covered by the system--
                    (A) includes--
                            (i) medical supplies;
                            (ii) surgical equipment and supplies;
                            (iii) laboratory equipment and supplies;
                            (iv) supplies and capital equipment 
                        pertaining to facilities or real property;
                            (v) biomedical equipment;
                            (vi) textiles and apparel;
                            (vii) dental equipment and supplies; and
                            (viii) equipment and supplies relating to 
                        the treatment of sleep apnea;
                    (B) may include (but, if not so included in the 
                system itself, the system shall include through an 
                interface with an external information technology 
                system)--
                            (i) prosthetic appliances requiring 
                        extensive customization or fitting;
                            (ii) prosthetic appliances not requiring 
                        extensive customization or fitting;
                            (iii) pharmaceuticals;
                            (iv) reusable medical equipment; and
                            (v) eyeglasses; and
                    (C) does not include--
                            (i) software;
                            (ii) equipment and supplies of the National 
                        Cemetery Administration the management of which 
                        cannot be accommodated by a process used by the 
                        Veterans Health Administration; or
                            (iii) equipment and supplies of the 
                        Veterans Benefits Administration the management 
                        of which cannot be accommodated by a process 
                        used by the Veterans Health Administration;
            (4) has existing interfaces with or the capability to 
        interface with--
                    (A) procurement, purchasing, or ordering systems of 
                the Department;
                    (B) the Integrated Financial and Acquisition 
                Management System of the Department of Veterans 
                Affairs; and
                    (C) the electronic health record systems of the 
                Department, including--
                            (i) the Veterans Health Information Systems 
                        and Technology Architecture and Computerized 
                        Patient Record System; and
                            (ii) the electronic health record system 
                        established under the Electronic Health Record 
                        Modernization Program (as defined in section 
                        503 of Veterans Benefits and Transition Act of 
                        2018 (Public Law 115-407; 38 U.S.C. 5701 note 
                        prec.));
            (5) has the capacity to accommodate not fewer than 50,000 
        users; and
            (6) includes any other functions, capabilities, or 
        components as determined by the Secretary.
    (b) Requirements.--If the Secretary carries out a covered 
information technology system under subsection (a), the Secretary 
shall--
            (1) determine whether the functions of the system are 
        satisfactory by piloting such functions at one facility of the 
        Department before expanding implementation of the system 
        throughout the Department; and
            (2) with respect to the functions referred to in subsection 
        (a)(1)(A), prioritize the delivery of inventory management 
        capabilities.
    (c) Exception.--Subsection (a) shall not apply with respect to 
information technology systems used by the Secretary at joint 
facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of 
Defense.
    (d) Completion of Implementation.--The Secretary shall complete the 
implementation of a covered information technology system by not later 
than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (e) Covered Information Technology System Defined.--In this 
section, the term ``covered information technology system'' means an 
information technology system, or a system of systems, for the 
management of supply chains, including with respect to inventory and 
other functions.
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