Introduced in House Passed House Introduced in Senate Passed Senate To President Became Law
02/06/2020          

VA Quality Health Care Accountability and Transparency Act

Date Version PDF TXT
02/06/2020 Introduced in House Open

            I 

116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION H. R. 5786 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain information 
publicly available on one internet website of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2020 
Mr. GALLEGO (for himself, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. LAMB, Mr. JOYCE of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. GONZALEZ of Ohio, and Mr. TIMMONS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain 

information publicly available on one internet website 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1

tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Quality Health 4

Care Accountability and Transparency Act’’. 5

SEC. 2. IMPROVED TRANSPARENCY BY DEPARTMENT OF 6

VETERANS AFFAIRS. 7

(a) PUBLICATION OF STAFFING AND QUALITY OF 8

CARE DATA.—Not later than one year after the date of 9

VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Feb 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5786.IH H5786kjo
hn

so
n 

on
 D

S
K

79
L0

C
42

P
R

O
D

 w
ith

 B
IL

LS



2 

•HR 5786 IH

the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Af-1

fairs shall make publicly available on the Access to Care 2

internet website of the Department of Veterans Affairs (or 3

a successor website) the information under subsection (b). 4

(b) INFORMATION INCLUDED.— 5

(1) IN GENERAL.—The information published 6

on the internet website under subsection (a) shall in-7

clude— 8

(A) any numeric indicators relating to 9

timely care, effective care, safety, and veteran- 10

centered care that the Secretary collects at 11

medical facilities of the Department pursuant 12

to section 1703C of title 38, United States 13

Code; 14

(B) the staffing and vacancy information 15

required by subparagraphs (A) through (D) of 16

section 505(a)(1) of the VA MISSION Act of 17

2018 (Public Law 115–182; 38 U.S.C. 301 18

note); 19

(C) the patient wait times information re-20

quired by subsection (a) of section 206 of the 21

Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act 22

of 2014 (Public Law 113–146; 128 Stat. 23

1780); and 24

VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Feb 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5786.IH H5786kjo
hn

so
n 

on
 D

S
K

79
L0

C
42

P
R

O
D

 w
ith

 B
IL

LS



3 

•HR 5786 IH

(D) the patient safety, quality of care, and 1

outcome measures required by subsection (b) of 2

such section. 3

(2) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall regularly 4

update the internet website under subsection (a) to 5

ensure that the information under paragraph (1) is 6

the most current information required by the provi-7

sions of law specified in such paragraph. 8

(c) REQUIREMENTS OF INTERNET WEBSITE.—In ad-9

dition to the requirements of section 206(b)(4) of the Vet-10

erans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 11

(Public Law 113–146; 128 Stat. 1781), the Secretary 12

shall ensure that the internet website under subsection (a) 13

meets the following requirements: 14

(1) The internet website is directly accessible 15

from— 16

(A) the main homepage of the publicly ac-17

cessible internet website of the Department; 18

and 19

(B) the main homepage of the publicly ac-20

cessible internet website of each medical center 21

of the Department. 22

(2) Where practicable, the internet website is 23

organized and searchable by each medical center of 24

the Department. 25

VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Feb 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5786.IH H5786kjo
hn

so
n 

on
 D

S
K

79
L0

C
42

P
R

O
D

 w
ith

 B
IL

LS



4 

•HR 5786 IH

(3) The internet website is easily understand-1

able and usable by the general public. 2

(d) CONSULTATION AND CONTRACT AUTHORITY.—In 3

carrying out subsection (c)(3), the Secretary— 4

(1) shall consult with veterans service organiza-5

tions; and 6

(2) may enter into a contract to design the 7

internet website under subsection (a) with a com-8

pany, non-profit entity, or other entity, specializing 9

in website design that has substantial experience in 10

presenting health care data and information in a 11

easily understandable and usable manner to patients 12

and consumers. 13

(e) ACCURACY OF DATA.— 14

(1) ANNUAL PROCESS.—Not later than 18 15

months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 16

the Secretary shall develop and implement an annual 17

process to audit a generalizable subset of the data 18

contained in the internet website under subsection 19

(a) to assess the accuracy and completeness of the 20

data. 21

(2) CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall ensure that 22

each audit under subsection (a)— 23

(A) determines the extent that the medical 24

record information, clinical information, data, 25

VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Feb 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5786.IH H5786kjo
hn

so
n 

on
 D

S
K

79
L0

C
42

P
R

O
D

 w
ith

 B
IL

LS



5 

•HR 5786 IH

and documentation provided by each medical 1

center of the Department that is used to cal-2

culate the information under subsection (b) is 3

accurate and complete; 4

(B) identifies any deficiencies in the re-5

cording of medical record information, clinical 6

information, or data by medical centers of the 7

Department that affects the accuracy and com-8

pleteness of the information under subsection 9

(b); and 10

(C) provides recommendations to medical 11

centers of the Department on how to— 12

(i) improve the accuracy and com-13

pleteness of the medical record informa-14

tion, clinical information, data, and docu-15

mentation that is used to calculate the in-16

formation under subsection (b); and 17

(ii) ensure that each medical center of 18

the Department provides such information 19

in a uniform manner. 20

(3) INDEPENDENT VALIDATION.—The Sec-21

retary shall enter into an agreement with the Inspec-22

tor General of the Department, or an entity other 23

than the Department selected by the Secretary, to 24

validate each audit under subsection (a). 25

VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Feb 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5786.IH H5786kjo
hn

so
n 

on
 D

S
K

79
L0

C
42

P
R

O
D

 w
ith

 B
IL

LS



6 

•HR 5786 IH

(4) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than two 1

years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 2

and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit 3

to Congress a report on the findings of each audit 4

under paragraph (1), including the independent vali-5

dation of the audit conducted under paragraph (3). 6

(f) COMPTROLLER GENERAL REVIEW.—Not later 7

than three years after the date of the enactment of this 8

Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall 9

conduct a review of the internet website under subsection 10

(a) to assess the degree to which the Secretary is com-11

plying with this section and to provide recommendations 12

to the Secretary on how to improve the internet website. 13

Æ 

VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Feb 08, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5786.IH H5786kjo
hn

so
n 

on
 D

S
K

79
L0

C
42

P
R

O
D

 w
ith

 B
IL

LS


<<
  /ASCII85EncodePages false
  /AllowTransparency false
  /AutoPositionEPSFiles true
  /AutoRotatePages /None
  /Binding /Left
  /CalGrayProfile (Dot Gain 20%)
  /CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1)
  /CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2)
  /sRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1)
  /CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Error
  /CompatibilityLevel 1.4
  /CompressObjects /Off
  /CompressPages true
  /ConvertImagesToIndexed true
  /PassThroughJPEGImages true
  /CreateJobTicket false
  /DefaultRenderingIntent /Default
  /DetectBlends true
  /DetectCurves 0.0000
  /ColorConversionStrategy /LeaveColorUnchanged
  /DoThumbnails false
  /EmbedAllFonts true
  /EmbedOpenType false
  /ParseICCProfilesInComments true
  /EmbedJobOptions true
  /DSCReportingLevel 0
  /EmitDSCWarnings false
  /EndPage -1
  /ImageMemory 1048576
  /LockDistillerParams true
  /MaxSubsetPct 100
  /Optimize false
  /OPM 1
  /ParseDSCComments true
  /ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true
  /PreserveCopyPage true
  /PreserveDICMYKValues true
  /PreserveEPSInfo true
  /PreserveFlatness true
  /PreserveHalftoneInfo false
  /PreserveOPIComments true
  /PreserveOverprintSettings true
  /StartPage 1
  /SubsetFonts false
  /TransferFunctionInfo /Preserve
  /UCRandBGInfo /Preserve
  /UsePrologue true
  /ColorSettingsFile ()
  /AlwaysEmbed [ true
  ]
  /NeverEmbed [ true
  ]
  /AntiAliasColorImages false
  /CropColorImages true
  /ColorImageMinResolution 300
  /ColorImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK
  /DownsampleColorImages false
  /ColorImageDownsampleType /Bicubic
  /ColorImageResolution 300
  /ColorImageDepth 8
  /ColorImageMinDownsampleDepth 1
  /ColorImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000
  /EncodeColorImages true
  /ColorImageFilter /FlateEncode
  /AutoFilterColorImages false
  /ColorImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG
  /ColorACSImageDict <<
    /QFactor 0.15
    /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1]
  >>
  /ColorImageDict <<
    /QFactor 0.15
    /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1]
  >>
  /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict <<
    /TileWidth 256
    /TileHeight 256
    /Quality 30
  >>
  /JPEG2000ColorImageDict <<
    /TileWidth 256
    /TileHeight 256
    /Quality 30
  >>
  /AntiAliasGrayImages false
  /CropGrayImages true
  /GrayImageMinResolution 300
  /GrayImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK
  /DownsampleGrayImages false
  /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic
  /GrayImageResolution 300
  /GrayImageDepth 8
  /GrayImageMinDownsampleDepth 2
  /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000
  /EncodeGrayImages true
  /GrayImageFilter /FlateEncode
  /AutoFilterGrayImages false
  /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG
  /GrayACSImageDict <<
    /QFactor 0.15
    /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1]
  >>
  /GrayImageDict <<
    /QFactor 0.15
    /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1]
  >>
  /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict <<
    /TileWidth 256
    /TileHeight 256
    /Quality 30
  >>
  /JPEG2000GrayImageDict <<
    /TileWidth 256
    /TileHeight 256
    /Quality 30
  >>
  /AntiAliasMonoImages false
  /CropMonoImages true
  /MonoImageMinResolution 1200
  /MonoImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK
  /DownsampleMonoImages false
  /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic
  /MonoImageResolution 1200
  /MonoImageDepth -1
  /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000
  /EncodeMonoImages true
  /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode
  /MonoImageDict <<
    /K -1
  >>
  /AllowPSXObjects false
  /CheckCompliance [
    /None
  ]
  /PDFX1aCheck true
  /PDFX3Check false
  /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly true
  /PDFXNoTrimBoxError false
  /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [
    0.00000
    0.00000
    0.00000
    0.00000
  ]
  /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true
  /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [
    0.00000
    0.00000
    0.00000
    0.00000
  ]
  /PDFXOutputIntentProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2)
  /PDFXOutputConditionIdentifier (CGATS TR 001)
  /PDFXOutputCondition ()
  /PDFXRegistryName (http://www.color.org)
  /PDFXTrapped /False

  /CreateJDFFile false
  /Description <<
    /ARA 
    /BGR 
    /CHS 
    /CHT 
    /CZE 
    /DAN 
    /DEU 
    /ESP 
    /ETI 
    /FRA 
    /GRE 
    /HEB 
    /HRV 
    /HUN 
    /ITA (Utilizzare queste impostazioni per creare documenti Adobe PDF che devono essere conformi o verificati in base a PDF/X-1a:2001, uno standard ISO per lo scambio di contenuto grafico. Per ulteriori informazioni sulla creazione di documenti PDF compatibili con PDF/X-1a, consultare la Guida dell'utente di Acrobat. I documenti PDF creati possono essere aperti con Acrobat e Adobe Reader 4.0 e versioni successive.)
    /JPN 
    /KOR 
    /LTH 
    /LVI 
    /NLD (Gebruik deze instellingen om Adobe PDF-documenten te maken die moeten worden gecontroleerd of moeten voldoen aan PDF/X-1a:2001, een ISO-standaard voor het uitwisselen van grafische gegevens. Raadpleeg de gebruikershandleiding van Acrobat voor meer informatie over het maken van PDF-documenten die compatibel zijn met PDF/X-1a. De gemaakte PDF-documenten kunnen worden geopend met Acrobat en Adobe Reader 4.0 en hoger.)
    /NOR 
    /POL 
    /PTB 
    /RUM 
    /RUS 
    /SKY 
    /SLV 
    /SUO 
    /SVE 
    /TUR 
    /UKR 
    /ENU (Use these settings to create Adobe PDF documents that are to be checked or must conform to PDF/X-1a:2001, an ISO standard for graphic content exchange.  For more information on creating PDF/X-1a compliant PDF documents, please refer to the Acrobat User Guide.  Created PDF documents can be opened with Acrobat and Adobe Reader 4.0 and later.)
  >>
  /Namespace [
    (Adobe)
    (Common)
    (1.0)
  ]
  /OtherNamespaces [
    <<
      /AsReaderSpreads false
      /CropImagesToFrames true
      /ErrorControl /WarnAndContinue
      /FlattenerIgnoreSpreadOverrides false
      /IncludeGuidesGrids false
      /IncludeNonPrinting false
      /IncludeSlug false
      /Namespace [
        (Adobe)
        (InDesign)
        (4.0)
      ]
      /OmitPlacedBitmaps false
      /OmitPlacedEPS false
      /OmitPlacedPDF false
      /SimulateOverprint /Legacy
    >>
    <<
      /AddBleedMarks false
      /AddColorBars false
      /AddCropMarks false
      /AddPageInfo false
      /AddRegMarks false
      /ConvertColors /ConvertToCMYK
      /DestinationProfileName ()
      /DestinationProfileSelector /DocumentCMYK
      /Downsample16BitImages true
      /FlattenerPreset <<
        /PresetSelector /HighResolution
      >>
      /FormElements false
      /GenerateStructure false
      /IncludeBookmarks false
      /IncludeHyperlinks false
      /IncludeInteractive false
      /IncludeLayers false
      /IncludeProfiles false
      /MultimediaHandling /UseObjectSettings
      /Namespace [
        (Adobe)
        (CreativeSuite)
        (2.0)
      ]
      /PDFXOutputIntentProfileSelector /DocumentCMYK
      /PreserveEditing true
      /UntaggedCMYKHandling /LeaveUntagged
      /UntaggedRGBHandling /UseDocumentProfile
      /UseDocumentBleed false
    >>
  ]
>> setdistillerparams
<<
  /HWResolution [2400 2400]
  /PageSize [612.000 792.000]
>> setpagedevice



		Superintendent of Documents
	2020-02-11T05:57:08-0500
	US GPO, Washington, DC 20401
	Superintendent of Documents
	GPO attests that this document has not been altered since it was disseminated by GPO
        

Picture Name From Date Type
Ruben Gallego D-AZ 02/06/2020 Sponsor
Lee Zeldin R-NY 03/02/2020 Cosponsor
William Timmons R-SC 02/06/2020 Cosponsor
Chris Pappas D-NH 07/06/2020 Cosponsor
Conor Lamb D-PA 02/06/2020 Cosponsor
David Joyce R-OH 02/06/2020 Cosponsor
John Joyce R-PA 02/06/2020 Cosponsor
Anthony Gonzalez R-OH 02/06/2020 Cosponsor
Date Branch Action
07/01/2020 President Referred to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.Action By: Committee on Veterans' Affairs
03/02/2020 President Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.Action By: Committee on Veterans' Affairs
03/02/2020 President Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.Action By: Committee on Veterans' Affairs
02/06/2020 President Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.Action By: House of Representatives
02/06/2020 President Introduced in HouseAction By: House of Representatives
Summary
There is one summary for H.R.5786. View summaries Shown Here:Introduced in House (02/06/2020) VA Quality Health Care Accountability and Transparency Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make certain staffing and quality of care data publicly available on a specified VA website. Among other elements, the information published on the website should include statistics related to patient wait times, effectiveness of care, and staffing and vacancy information. The website must be (1) directly accessible from the main VA website and the main websites of each VA medical center, and (2) understandable and usable by the general public. The VA must implement a self-auditing process to assess the accuracy and completeness of the data available on the website and must enter an agreement for the Inspector General of the VA (or other entity) to validate the audits. Additionally, the Government Accountability Office shall review the website to assess the VA's compliance and to provide recommendations on how to improve the website.
Shown Here:Introduced in House (02/06/2020) VA Quality Health Care Accountability and Transparency Act This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make certain staffing and quality of care data publicly available on a specified VA website. Among other elements, the information published on the website should include statistics related to patient wait times, effectiveness of care, and staffing and vacancy information. The website must be (1) directly accessible from the main VA website and the main websites of each VA medical center, and (2) understandable and usable by the general public. The VA must implement a self-auditing process to assess the accuracy and completeness of the data available on the website and must enter an agreement for the Inspector General of the VA (or other entity) to validate the audits. Additionally, the Government Accountability Office shall review the website to assess the VA's compliance and to provide recommendations on how to improve the website.
Congress - Bill Number Major Title
Branch Vote Date Yes No Not Voting
Wiki






Bill TEXT Points.
This Bill has been listed with the following Subjects from Texts:
Congress
(4)Annual reportsNot later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the findings of each audit under paragraph (1), including the independent validation of the audit conducted under paragraph (3)

Department of Veterans Affairs
Timmons) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' AffairsA BILLTo direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to make certain information publicly available on one internet website of the Department of Veterans Affairs

House of Representatives
House of Representatives 2020-02-06 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain

Law
(b)Information included (1)In generalThe information published on the internet website under subsection (a) shall include— (A)any numeric indicators relating to timely care, effective care, safety, and veteran-centered care that the Secretary collects at medical facilities of the Department pursuant to section 1703C of title 38, United States Code; (B)the staffing and vacancy information required by subparagraphs (A) through (D) of section 505(a)(1) of the VA MISSION Act of 2018 (Public La


End Bill TEXT Points.
Date Bill Major Title
Committee Name
Subject Type