S. 1296 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 1296 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES July 15, 2013 Mr. Nelson introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs A BILL To amend the Wounded Warrior Act to establish a specific timeline for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to achieve interoperable electronic health records, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Servicemember's Electronic Health Records Act of 2013. 2. Timeline for implementing interoperable electronic health records (a) Establishment of timeline Section 1635 of the Wounded Warrior Act (10 U.S.C. 1071 note) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (k) Timeline In carrying out this section, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure that— (1) the creation of a health data authoritative source by the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs that can be accessed by multiple providers and standardizes the input of new medical information is achieved not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection; (2) the ability of patients of both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to download the medical records of the patient (commonly referred to as the Blue Button Initiative) is achieved not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this subsection; (3) the full interoperability of personal health care information between the Departments is achieved not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this subsection; (4) the acceleration of the exchange of real-time data between the Departments is achieved not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this subsection; (5) the upgrade of the graphical user interface to display a joint common graphical user interface is achieved not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this subsection; and (6) each current member of the Armed Forces and the dependent of such a member may elect to receive an electronic copy of the health care record of the individual beginning not later than June 30, 2015. . (b) Cloud storage Section 1635 of such Act is further amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: (l) Cloud storage The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall assess the feasibility and advisability of establishing a secure, remote, network-accessible computer storage system (commonly referred to as cloud storage) to— (1) provide members of the Armed Forces and veterans the ability to upload the health care records of the member or veteran if the member or veteran elects to do so; and (2) allow medical providers of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to access such records in the course of providing care to the member or veteran. . (c) Conforming amendments Section 1635 of such Act is further amended— (1) in subsection (a), by striking The Secretary and inserting In accordance with the timeline described in subsection (k), the Secretary; and (2) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) of subsection (e), by inserting in accordance with subsection (k) after under this section.