38 U.S.C. § 7309A — Office of Patient Advocacy

Page 1169 TITLE 38—VETERANS’ BENEFITS § 7309A 1 See References in Text note below. ‘‘(F) The term ‘veteran’ means an individual who served in the Armed Forces, including an individual who served in a reserve component of the Armed Forces, and who was discharged or released there- from, regardless of the conditions of such discharge or release. ‘‘(g) DEFINITION OF VET CENTER.—In this section, the term ‘Vet Center’ has the meaning given that term in section 1712A(h) of title 38, United States Code.’’ § 7309A. Office of Patient Advocacy (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the Department within the Office of the Under Secretary for Health an office to be known as the ‘‘Office of Patient Advocacy’’ (in this sec- tion referred to as the ‘‘Office’’). (b) HEAD.—(1) The Director of the Office of Pa- tient Advocacy shall be the head of the Office. (2) The Director of the Office of Patient Advo- cacy shall be appointed by the Under Secretary for Health from among individuals qualified to perform the duties of the position and shall re- port directly to the Under Secretary for Health. (c) FUNCTION.—(1) The function of the Office is to carry out the Patient Advocacy Program of the Department. (2) In carrying out the Patient Advocacy Pro- gram of the Department, the Director shall en- sure that patient advocates of the Department— (A) advocate on behalf of veterans with re- spect to health care received and sought by veterans under the laws administered by the Secretary; (B) carry out the responsibilities specified in subsection (d); and (C) receive training in patient advocacy. (3) Beginning not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Director shall establish an information tech- nology system that will allow a veteran (or the designated representative of a veteran) to elec- tronically— (A) file a complaint that will be received by the appropriate patient advocate; and (B) at any time view the status of the com- plaint, including interim and final actions that have been taken to address the com- plaint. (d) PATIENT ADVOCACY RESPONSIBILITIES.—The responsibilities of each patient advocate at a medical facility of the Department are the fol- lowing: (1) To resolve complaints by veterans with respect to health care furnished under the laws administered by the Secretary that can- not be resolved at the point of service or at a higher level easily accessible to the veteran. (2) To present at various meetings and to various committees the issues experienced by veterans in receiving such health care at such medical facility. (3) To express to veterans their rights and responsibilities as patients in receiving such health care. (4) To manage the Patient Advocate Track- ing System of the Department at such medical facility. (5) To compile data at such medical facility of complaints made by veterans with respect to the receipt of such health care at such med- ical facility and the satisfaction of veterans with such health care at such medical facility to determine whether there are trends in such data. (6) To ensure that a process is in place for the distribution of the data compiled under paragraph (5) to appropriate leaders, commit- tees, services, and staff of the Department. (7) To identify, not less frequently than quarterly, opportunities for improvements in the furnishing of such health care to veterans at such medical facility based on complaints by veterans. (8) To ensure that any significant complaint by a veteran with respect to such health care is brought to the attention of appropriate staff of the Department to trigger an assessment of whether there needs to be a further analysis of the problem at the facility-wide level. (9) To support any patient advocacy pro- grams carried out by the Department. (10) To ensure that all appeals and final deci- sions with respect to the receipt of such health care are entered into the Patient Advocate Tracking System of the Department. (11) To understand all laws, directives, and other rules with respect to the rights and re- sponsibilities of veterans in receiving such health care, including the appeals processes available to veterans. (12) To ensure that veterans receiving men- tal health care, or the surrogate decision-mak- ers for such veterans, are aware of the rights of veterans to seek representation from sys- tems established under section 103 of the Pro- tection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individ- uals Act of 1986 1 (42 U.S.C. 10803) to protect and advocate the rights of individuals with mental illness and to investigate incidents of abuse and neglect of such individuals. (13) To fulfill requirements established by the Secretary with respect to the inspection of controlled substances. (14) To document potentially threatening be- havior and report such behavior to appropriate authorities. (e) TRAINING.—In providing training to patient advocates under subsection (c)(2)(C), the Direc- tor shall ensure that such training is consistent throughout the Department. (f) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘controlled substance’’ has the meaning given that term in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802). (Added Pub. L. 114–198, title IX, § 924(a), July 22, 2016, 130 Stat. 767; amended Pub. L. 117–175, § 2, Sept. 16, 2022, 136 Stat. 2107.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The date of the enactment of this paragraph, referred to in subsec. (c)(3), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 117–175, which was approved Sept. 16, 2022. The Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Indi- viduals Act of 1986, referred to in subsec. (d)(12), was re- named the Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness Act by Pub. L. 106–310, div. B, title XXXII, § 3206(a), Oct. 17, 2000, 114 Stat. 1193. AMENDMENTS 2022—Subsec. (c)(3). Pub. L. 117–175 added par. (3). Page 1170 TITLE 38—VETERANS’ BENEFITS § 7310 Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries DATE FULLY OPERATIONAL Pub. L. 114–198, title IX, § 924(c), July 22, 2016, 130 Stat. 769, provided that: ‘‘The Secretary of Veterans Af- fairs shall ensure that the Office of Patient Advocacy established under section 7309A of title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), is fully oper- ational not later than the date that is one year after the date of the enactment of this Act [July 22, 2016].’’ § 7310. Office of Women’s Health (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—(1) The Under Secretary for Health shall establish and operate in the Veterans Health Administration the Office of Women’s Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Office’’). (2) The Office shall be located at the Central Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs. (3)(A) The head of the Office is the Chief Offi- cer of Women’s Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Chief Officer’’). (B) The Chief Officer shall report to the Under Secretary for Health. (4) The Under Secretary for Health shall pro- vide the Office with such staff and other support as may be necessary for the Office to carry out effectively the functions of the Office under this section. (5) The Under Secretary for Health may reor- ganize existing offices within the Veterans Health Administration as of the date of the en- actment of this section in order to avoid dupli- cation with the functions of the Office. (b) FUNCTIONS.—The functions of the Office in- clude the following: (1) To provide a central office for monitoring and encouraging the activities of the Veterans Health Administration with respect to the provision, evaluation, and improvement of health care services provided to women vet- erans by the Department. (2) To develop and implement standards of care for the provision of health care for women veterans by the Department. (3) To monitor and identify deficiencies in standards of care for the provision of health care for women veterans by the Department, to provide technical assistance to medical fa- cilities of the Department to address and rem- edy deficiencies, and to perform oversight of implementation of such standards of care. (4) To monitor and identify deficiencies in standards of care for the provision of health care for women veterans provided through the community pursuant to this title and to pro- vide recommendations to the appropriate of- fice to address and remedy any deficiencies. (5) To oversee distribution of resources and information related to health programming for women veterans under this title. (6) To promote the expansion and improve- ment of clinical, research, and educational ac- tivities of the Veterans Health Administration with respect to the health care of women vet- erans. (7) To provide, as part of the annual budg- eting process, recommendations with respect to the amounts to be requested for furnishing hospital care and medical services to women veterans pursuant to chapter 17 of this title, including, at a minimum, recommendations that ensure that such amounts either reflect or exceed the proportion of veterans enrolled in the system of patient enrollment of the De- partment established and operated under sec- tion 1705(a) of this title who are women. (8) To provide recommendations to the Under Secretary for Health with respect to modifying the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation system, or successor system, to en- sure that resource allocations under such sys- tem, or successor system, reflect the health care needs of women veterans. (9) To carry out such other duties as the Under Secretary for Health may require. (c) RECOMMENDATIONS.—(1) If the Under Sec- retary for Health determines not to implement any recommendation made by the Chief Officer with respect to the allocation of resources to ad- dress the health care needs of women veterans, the Secretary shall notify the appropriate con- gressional committees of such determination by not later than 30 days after the date on which the Under Secretary for Health receives the rec- ommendation. (2) Each notification under paragraph (1) relat- ing to a determination with respect to a rec- ommendation shall include the following: (A) The reasoning of the Under Secretary for Health in making the determination. (B) An alternative, if one is selected, to the recommendation that the Under Secretary for Health will carry out to fulfill the health care needs of women veterans. (d) STANDARDS OF CARE.—For purposes of car- rying out the functions of the Office under this section, the standards of care for the provision of health care for women veterans from the De- partment shall include, at a minimum, the fol- lowing: (1) A requirement for— (A) at least one designated women’s health primary care provider at each medical cen- ter of the Department whose duties include, to the extent practicable, providing training to other health care providers of the Depart- ment with respect to the needs of women veterans; and (B) at least one designated women’s health primary care provider at each community- based outpatient clinic of the Department who may serve women patients as a percent- age of the total duties of the provider. (2) Other requirements as determined by the Under Secretary for Health. (e) OUTREACH.—The Chief Officer shall ensure that— (1) not less frequently than biannually, each medical facility of the Department holds a public forum for women veterans that occurs outside of regular business hours; and (2) not less frequently than quarterly, each medical facility of the Department convenes a focus group of women veterans that includes a discussion of harassment occurring at such fa- cility. (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: (1) The term ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 7310A(h) of this title.