[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S4328]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 371. Ms. DUCKWORTH submitted an amendment intended to be proposed 
by her to the bill H.R. 2810, to authorize appropriations for fiscal 
year 2018 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for 
military construction, and for defense activities of the Department of 
Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, 
and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as 
follows:

       At the end of subtitle C of title VII, add the following:

     SEC. ___. PROVISION OF SUPPORT BY DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO 
                   DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS REGARDING 
                   ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD SYSTEM.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary of Defense may support the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to the extent the Secretary of 
     Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs jointly 
     consider feasible and advisable, in the development and 
     implementation of an electronic health record system that--
       (1) is derivative of the Military Health System Genesis 
     record being developed and implemented by the Secretary of 
     Defense as of the date of the enactment of this Act; and
       (2) achieves complete interoperability with the Military 
     Health System Genesis.
       (b) Annual Review.--The Secretary of Defense and the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly conduct an annual 
     review of the efforts undertaken by the Secretary of Defense 
     and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to achieve complete 
     interoperability between the electronic health record of the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs and the Military Health System 
     Genesis.
       (c) Annual Report.--
       (1) Reports.--Not later than 60 days after completing each 
     annual review under subsection (b), the Secretary of Defense 
     and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to 
     the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
     Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Armed 
     Services and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House 
     of Representatives a report on the review.
       (2) Elements.--Each report under paragraph (1) shall 
     include an assessment of the following:
       (A) Milestones reached as part of the schedule developed by 
     the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs of the development and implementation of an 
     electronic health record system under subsection (a).
       (B) Costs associated with such development and 
     implementation.
       (C) Actions, if any, of the Secretary of Defense in 
     supporting the Secretary of Veterans Affairs pursuant to 
     subsection (a) with respect to the development and 
     implementation of an electronic health record system and in 
     achieving complete interoperability with the Military Health 
     System Genesis.
       (D) Status of the adoption of the national standards and 
     architectural requirements identified by the Interagency 
     Program Office of the Department of Defense and the 
     Department of Veterans Affairs in collaboration with the 
     Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information 
     Technology of the Department of Health and Human Services.
       (d) Termination.--The requirements under subsections (b) 
     and (c) shall terminate on the date on which the Secretary of 
     Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs jointly certify 
     to the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on 
     Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Armed 
     Services and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House 
     of Representatives that the electronic health records of both 
     the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans 
     Affairs are completely interoperable.
       (e) Interoperability Defined.--In this section, the term 
     ``interoperability'' means the ability of different 
     electronic health records systems or software to meaningfully 
     exchange information in real time and provide useful results 
     to one or more systems.
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