,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #cchh  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #h   
7legislative day1 ,december #d71        
#bjbe,mr4 ,moran introduced the         
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on          
,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
improve the availability of care for    
veterans from facilities and providers  
of the ,department of ,defense1 and for 
other purposes4  #a4 ,short title ,this 
,act may be cited as the ,sharing       
,essential ,resources for ,veterans     
,everywhere ,act or the ,,serve ,act4   
#b4 ,improvement of availability of care
 for veterans from facilities and       
providers of the ,department of ,defense
  7a7 ,action plans  7#a7 ,in general   
,pursuant to the authorities under      
section #haaa of title #ch1 ,united     
,states ,code1 and section #aajd of     
title #aj1 ,united ,states ,code1 the   
,secretary of ,defense and the          
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  

develop and implement action plans at   
covered facilities-- 7,a7 to strengthen 
sharing of resources between the        
,department of ,defense and the         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs under 
existing statutory authority2  7,b7 to  
improve communication between the       
,department of ,veterans ,affairs and   
pertinent command and director          
leadership of military medical treatment
 facilities2  7,c7 to increase          
utilization of military medical         
treatment facilities with excess        
capacity or space2  7,d7 to increase    
case volume and complexity for graduate 
professional and other medical education
 programs of the ,department of ,defense
 and the ,department of ,veterans       
,affairs2 and  7,e7 to increase access  
to care for enrolled veterans in areas  
in which a military medical treatment   
facility is located that is identified  
by the ,secretary of ,defense as having 
excess capacity or space4  7#b7 ,matters
 ,to be included ,the action plans      

required under paragraph 7#a7 shall     
include the following3 7,a7             
,cross-credentialing and privileging of 
health care providers to jointly care   
for enrolled veterans in medical        
facilities of the ,department of        
,defense and the ,department of         
,veterans ,affairs4  7,b7 ,expedited    
access to installations of the          
,department of ,defense for staff of the
 ,department of ,veterans ,affairs and  
enrolled veterans4  7,c7 ,the           
designation of a coordinator within each
 covered facility to serve as a liaison 
between the ,department of ,defense and 
the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
and to lead the implementation of such  
action plan4  7,d7 ,a mechanism for     
monitoring the effectiveness of such    
action plan on an ongoing basis1 to     
include establishing relevant           
performance goals and collecting data to
 assess progress towards those goals4   
7,e7 ,prioritized integration of        
relevant information technology and     

other systems or processes to enable    
seamless information sharing1 medical   
records referrals and ancillary orders  
and results1 payment methodologies and  
billing processes1 and workload         
attribution when personnel of the       
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
provide services at facilities of the   
,department of ,defense or when         
personnel of the ,department of ,defense
 provide services at facilities of the  
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4  7,f7
 ,an oversight and accountability plan  
for the handling of adverse medical     
events and complaints from patients or  
staff1 including a requirement to track 
any significant adverse medical events  
and provide information on such events  
in the briefing required under          
subsection 7f74  7,g7 ,any other matter 
that the ,secretary of ,defense and the 
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs        
consider appropriate4  7b7 ,approval of 
action plans ,before any action plan    
required under subsection 7a7 with      

respect to a covered facility shall be  
considered complete and submitted to the
 appropriate committees of ,congress    
pursuant to subsection 7e71 the         
,secretary of ,defense and the          
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
ensure that approval for the action plan
 is obtained from-- 7#a7 the co-chairs  
of the ,department of ,veterans         
,affairs-,department of ,defense ,joint 
,executive ,committee established under 
section #cbj of title #ch1 ,united      
,states ,code2  7#b7 the local          
installation commander for the covered  
facility of the ,department of ,defense2
 and  7#c7 the director of the relevant 
medical center of the ,department of    
,veterans ,affairs with respect to any  
covered facility of the ,department of  
,veterans ,affairs4  7c7 ,requirements  
relating to sharing agreements  7#a7    
,lead coordinator ,the ,secretary of    
,defense and the ,secretary of ,veterans
 ,affairs shall ensure that there is a  
lead coordinator at each facility of the

 ,department of ,defense or the         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 as   
the case may be1 with respect to which  
there is a sharing agreement in place4  
7#b7 ,list of agreements ,the ,secretary
 of ,defense and the ,secretary of      
,veterans ,affairs shall maintain on a  
publicly available website a list of the
 sharing agreements in place between the
 medical facilities of the ,department  
of ,defense and the ,department of      
,veterans ,affairs4  7d7 ,patient       
safety1 complaints1 and accountability  
7#a7 ,secure complaint process  7,a7 ,in
 general ,the ,secretary of ,defense and
 the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs   
shall establish a secure mechanism for  
enrolled veterans to report concerns    
regarding care received under an action 
plan required under subsection 7a74     
7,b7 ,elements of mechanism ,the        
mechanism established under subparagraph
 7,a7 shall protect confidentiality1    
prohibit retaliation1 and ensure        
transmission of each complaint to both  

the ,department of ,defense and the     
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4  7#b7
 ,documentation and review  7,a7        
,documentation ,the ,secretary of       
,defense and the ,secretary of ,veterans
 ,affairs shall maintain records of all 
complaints1 adverse events1 and safety  
incidents involving patients or staff   
pursuant to the action plans required by
 subsection 7a74  7,b7 ,review ,the     
records maintained under subparagraph   
7,a7 shall be jointly reviewed on a     
quarterly basis by designated officials 
of the ,department of ,defense and the  
,department of ,veterans ,affairs4  7#c7
 ,notification and investigation ,any   
allegation of abuse1 neglect1 or        
misconduct involving personnel of the   
,department of ,defense in the treatment
 of a veteran under an action plan shall
 be promptly referred by the ,secretary 
of ,veterans ,affairs1 the ,secretary of
 ,defense1 and the commander or medical 
center director1 as applicable1 of the  
facility concerned to the ,office of    

,inspector ,general of the ,department  
of ,defense and the ,department of      
,veterans ,affairs4  7#d7 ,interim      
protective measures ,pending resolution 
of any investigation relating to conduct
 under an action plan1 the ,secretary of
 ,veterans ,affairs may suspend         
referrals of veterans to the provider or
 facility concerned4  7e7 ,submission to
 ,congress ,not later than #cj days     
following the completion of the action  
plans required under subsection 7a71 the
 ,secretary of ,defense and the         
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
submit such plans to the appropriate    
committees of ,congress4  7f7 ,annual   
joint briefings on action plans ,not    
later than one year after submitting the
 action plans to the appropriate        
committees of ,congress pursuant to     
subsection 7e71 the ,secretary of       
,defense and the ,secretary of ,veterans
 ,affairs shall provide to the          
appropriate committees of ,congress a   
briefing containing-- 7#a7 a status     

update on the progress of implementing  
the action plans required under this    
section2  7#b7 recommendations for      
developing subsequent action plans for  
each facility with respect to which     
there is a sharing agreement in place2  
7#c7 the number of patients served      
pursuant to the action plans1 broken    
down by facility and service type2  7#d7
 the number of health care providers who
 were cross-credentialed or privileged  
to jointly care for beneficiaries in    
medical facilities of the ,department of
 ,defense or the ,department of         
,veterans ,affairs pursuant to the      
action plans1 broken down by facility   
and service type2  7#e7 the costs       
incurred and reimbursed between the     
,department of ,defense and the         
,department of ,veterans ,affairs       
pursuant to the action plans1 including 
an accounting of the use of the         
,,dod-,,va ,health ,care ,sharing       
,incentive ,fund established under      
section #haaa7;d77#b7 of title #ch1     

,united ,states ,code1 if applicable2   
7#f7 a summary of the effectiveness of  
the mechanisms developed pursuant to the
 action plans related to oversight1     
accountability1 data-gathering1 and     
performance goals as well as any        
recommendations for improving such      
mechanisms2  7#g7 a summary of any      
patient safety incidents or complaints  
and associated resolutions as well as   
any recommendations for improving the   
patient safety and complaint resolution 
process under the actions plans2 and    
7#h7 a summary of the integration of    
information technology and other systems
 pursuant to the action plans as well as
 barriers to further integration and    
recommendations for improving such      
integration4  7g7 ,rule of construction 
,nothing in this section shall be       
construed to allow the ,department of   
,defense or the ,department of ,veterans
 ,affairs to require a veteran to seek  
care at a facility of the ,department of
 ,defense or to allow military medical  

treatment facilities to be used as a    
facility of the ,department of ,veterans
 ,affairs for purposes of determining   
eligibility of veterans for care from a 
non-,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
provider under the eligibility access   
standards developed under section       
#agjc;,b of title #ch1 ,united ,states  
,code4  7h7 ,sunset ,this section shall 
terminate on ,september #cj1 #bjbh4  7i7
 ,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7    
,appropriate committees of ,congress    
,the term appropriate committees of     
,congress means-- 7,a7 the ,committee on
 ,armed ,services and the ,committee on 
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate2 and 
7,b7 the ,committee on ,armed ,services 
and the ,committee on ,veterans'        
,affairs of the ,house of               
,representatives4  7#b7 ,covered        
facility ,the term covered facility     
means-- 7,a7 a military medical         
treatment facility1 as defined in       
section #ajgc;c7j7 of title #aj1 ,united
 ,states ,code2 or  7,b7 a medical      

facility of the ,department of ,veterans
 ,affairs described in paragraph 7#c7 of
 section #haja of title #ch1 ,united    
,states ,code4  7#c7 ,enrolled veteran  
,the term enrolled veteran means a      
veteran enrolled in the patient         
enrollment system of the ,department of 
,veterans ,affairs established and      
operated under section #agje7;a7 of     
title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code4  7#d7 
,sharing agreement ,the term sharing    
agreement means an agreement for the    
sharing of health-care resources between
 the ,department of ,defense and the    
,department of ,veterans ,affairs under 
section #aajd of title #aj1 ,united     
,states ,code1 or section #haaa of title
 #ch1 ,united ,states ,code4  7#e7      
,veteran ,the term veteran has the      
meaning given that term in section #aja 
of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code4