,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #dhge  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,june #ag1 #bjad ,mr4
 ,boustany 7for himself and ,mr4 ,roe of
 ,tennessee7 introduced the following   
bill2 which was referred to the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a   
,,bill  ,to direct the ,secretary of    
,veterans ,affairs to publish           
information on the provision of health  
care by the ,department of ,veterans    
,affairs1 and for other purposes4  #a4  
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,equalizing ,transparency for       
,veterans ,act4  #b4 ,publication of    
information on provision of health care 
by ,department of ,veterans ,affairs    
7a7 ,publication of information  7#a7   
,in general ,not later than two years   
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 and biennially thereafter1 the    
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
publish on an ,internet database of the 
,department of ,veterans ,affairs that  
is publically available information on  

the provision of health care by the     
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4  7#b7
 ,elements  7,a7 ,medical facilities    
,with respect to each medical facility  
of the ,department1 including community 
based outpatient clinics1 each          
publication required by paragraph 7#a7  
shall include1 at a minimum1 the        
following3  7i7 ,the measures regarding 
inpatient and outpatient care made      
publically available by the ,secretary  
of ,health and ,human ,services pursuant
 to section                             
#ahhf7;b77#c77;,b77viii77,,vii7 of the  
,social ,security ,act 7#db ,u4,s4,c4   
#acieww7b77#c77;,b77viii77,,vii771      
including with respect to emergency     
department throughput measures1 hospital
 consumer assessment of health-care     
providers and systems1 and the national 
healthcare safety network4  7ii7 ,per   
each discharged patient of such a       
facility--  7,i7 the average length of  
stay2  7,,ii7 the opioid prescription   
rate2 and  7,,iii7 the suicide rate4    

7iii7 ,the average number of days a     
patient waited beginning on the date on 
which an appointment or procedure was   
requested and ending on the date on     
which the appointment or procedure      
occurred4  7,b7 ,nursing homes ,with    
respect to each nursing home of the     
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 each 
publication required by paragraph 7#a7  
shall include1 at a minimum1 any        
measures that the ,secretary of ,health 
and ,human ,services makes publically   
available with respect to ,medicare     
nursing homes4  7,c7 ,period covered    
,the information included pursuant to   
subparagraphs 7,a7 and 7,b7 in each     
publication required by paragraph 7#a7  
shall cover the period that the         
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs        
determines is equivalent to the period  
covered by the ,secretary of ,health and
 ,human ,services in publishing similar 
information4  7#c7 ,personal information
 ,the ,secretary shall ensure that      
personal information connected to       

information published under paragraph   
7#a7 is protected from disclosure as    
required by applicable law4  7b7        
,validation ,the ,secretary shall       
establish a process to validate the     
information published under subsection  
7a74 ,such process shall include the    
following3  7#a7 ,an audit of a number  
of randomly selected medical facilities 
that is sufficient to ensure the        
validity of such information4  7#b7 ,an 
opportunity for a medical facility      
described in paragraph 7#a7 to appeal   
the validation of such information4  7c7
 ,annual report ,not later than #cj days
 after the date of the enactment of this
 ,act1 and annually thereafter1 the     
,secretary shall submit to ,congress a  
report that includes--  7#a7 a listing  
of the facilities of the ,department    
that rank within the bottom quartile on 
each quality measure used by the        
,secretary to determine such rankings1  
including1 as applicable1 the measures  
used in the database under subsection   

7a72 and  7#b7 a plan to improve each   
such facility4  7d7 ,comptroller        
,general report ,not later than #ahj    
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,comptroller ,general of 
the ,united ,states shall submit to     
,congress a report setting forth        
recommendations for additional elements 
to be included with the information     
published under subsection 7a7 to       
improve the evaluation and assessment of
 the safety and health of individuals   
receiving care under the laws           
administered by the ,secretary and the  
quality of care received by such        
individuals4  7e7 ,toll-,free hotline on
 care provided ,not later than two years
 after the date of the enactment of this
 ,act1 the ,secretary shall--  7#a7     
establish a toll-free telephone number  
for individuals to use to notify the    
,secretary of low-quality care being    
provided at a health care facility of   
the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs2  
and  7#b7 ensure that patients at such a

 health care facility1 and caregivers of
 such patients1 are informed of such    
telephone number4