Department of Veterans Affairs Disease Reporting and Oversight Act of 2013 - Requires the director of a Veterans Integrated Service Network, within 24 hours after confirming the presence of a notifiable infectious disease (any infectious disease that is either on a specified published list of nationally notifiable diseases or that is covered by a provision of law of a state that requires the reporting of infectious diseases) at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facility under that director's jurisdiction, to notify: (1) the Central Office of the VA; (2) the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; (3) the state and county in which the facility is located; (4) each individual at the facility who has contracted the disease or is at risk of doing so, as well as the individual's next of kin, the individual's primary health care provider, and the county in which the individual resides; and (5) each VA employee of such facility. Requires such director to comply with any earlier notification required by the state concerned.
Requires such director to: (1) confirm receipt of such notification, (2) develop and implement an action plan to manage and control the potential spread of the disease, and (3) keep records of any such notifications for at least 10 years. Requires an annual report from the VA Inspector General to Congress on directors' compliance with the requirements of this Act. Provides for Inspector General enforcement and appropriate director disciplinary action with respect to such requirements.
Directs the Under Secretary for Health of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to issue a directive to the VHA's pathology team, infection prevention team, facilities management team, and other appropriate VHA groups on the actions to be taken when a notifiable infectious disease is discovered in a VHA facility.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2153 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2153
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the reporting of
cases of infectious diseases at facilities of the Veterans Health
Administration, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 23, 2013
Mr. Doyle (for himself and Mr. Murphy of Pennsylvania) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the reporting of
cases of infectious diseases at facilities of the Veterans Health
Administration, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Veterans Affairs
Disease Reporting and Oversight Act of 2013''.
SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT THAT VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION REPORT CASES OF
INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT FACILITIES OF THE ADMINISTRATION.
(a) In General.--Subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 7330B. Reporting of infectious diseases
``(a) Reporting.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), not
later than 24 hours after the director of a Veterans Integrated Service
Network confirms the presence of a notifiable infectious disease at a
facility under the jurisdiction of the director, the director shall
submit notice of such presence to the following:
``(A) The Central Office of the Department.
``(B) The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
``(C) The State in which the facility is located and if the
State has an agency or department that handles matters relating
to such notifiable infectious disease, the head of such agency
or department.
``(D) The county in which the facility is located and if
the county has an agency or department that handles matters
relating to such notifiable infectious disease, the head of
such agency or department.
``(E) For each individual who has contracted the notifiable
infectious disease at the facility or is at risk of contracting
such notifiable infectious disease--
``(i) the individual and the individual's next of
kin;
``(ii) the individual's primary health care
provider; and
``(iii) the county in which the individual resides
and if the county has an agency or department that
handles matters relating to such notifiable infectious
disease, the head of such agency or department.
``(F) Each employee of the Department who is employed at
such facility.
``(2) If the State in which a facility described in paragraph (1)
is located requires that a notifiable infectious disease confirmed at
such facility be reported to the State more quickly than required under
paragraph (1) or requires that a suspected presence of a notifiable
infectious disease at such facility be reported before waiting for
confirmation of such presence, the director concerned shall comply with
such State requirement.
``(3) Not later than 24 hours after submitting a notice under
paragraph (1), the director concerned shall confirm that such notice is
received.
``(b) Notifiable Infectious Disease.--For purposes of this section,
a notifiable infectious disease is any infectious disease that is--
``(1) on the list of nationally notifiable diseases
published by the Council of State and Territorial
Epidemiologists and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; or
``(2) covered by a provision of law of a State that
requires the reporting of infectious diseases.
``(c) Plan To Prevent Spread.--(1) Not later than seven days after
the director of a Veterans Integrated Service Network confirms the
presence of a notifiable infectious disease at a facility under the
jurisdiction of such director, the director shall develop and implement
an action plan to manage and control the potential spread of the
notifiable infectious disease.
``(2) The plan developed and implemented under paragraph (1) shall
also provide details on the role of partnering Federal, State, and
local government entities in the management and control of the
potential spread of the notifiable infectious disease.
``(d) Record Keeping.--The director of each Veterans Integrated
Service Network shall keep records of each notice submitted under
subsection (a)(1) for a period of not less than 10 years.
``(e) Annual Reports by Inspector General.--Not less frequently
than once each year, the Inspector General of the Department shall
submit to Congress a report on the compliance of the directors of the
Veterans Integrated Service Networks with the requirements of this
section.
``(f) Enforcement and Disciplinary Action.--(1) In any case in
which the Inspector General of the Department suspects that a director
of a Veterans Integrated Service Network has failed to comply with an
applicable provision of this section, the Inspector General shall
conduct an investigation to determine whether such director failed to
comply with an applicable provision of this section.
``(2) If the Inspector General determines under paragraph (1) that
a director has failed to comply with a provision of this section, the
Secretary shall suspend such director for such period as the Secretary
considers appropriate under subchapter I or subchapter II of chapter 75
of title 5, as the case may be.
``(3) Paragraph (2) shall not be construed to prevent the Secretary
from imposing, in addition to suspension under paragraph (2), such
other disciplinary action on the director as the Secretary considers
appropriate and for which the Secretary is otherwise authorized.''.
(b) Internal Communication.--Not later than 180 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary for Health of the
Veterans Health Administration shall issue a directive to the Pathology
Team, the Infection Prevention Team, and the Facilities Management Team
of the Veterans Health Administration and such other groups within the
Administration as the Under Secretary considers appropriate on the
actions that should be taken in any case in which a notifiable
infectious disease (as such term is used in section 7330B of title 38,
United States Code, as added by subsection (a)) is discovered in a
facility of the Veterans Health Administration.
(c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of
chapter 73 of such title is amended by inserting after the item
relating to section 7330A the following new item:
``7330B. Reporting of infectious diseases.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
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