Women Veterans Cancer Care Coordination Act

This Act may be cited as the “Women Veterans Cancer Care Coordination Act”.

(a) Establishment.— Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall hire or designate a Regional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinator at each Veteran Integrated Services Network (hereinafter in this section referred to as “VISN”). Each Care Coordinator hired or designated under this subsection shall report directly to the Director of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence (hereinafter in this section referred to as the “BGOSoE”).

(b) Eligible veterans.— A veteran is eligible to receive care coordination provided by a Care Coordinator hired or designated under subsection (a) if the veteran—

(1) is diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic cancer, or has been identified as having a precancerous breast or gynecologic condition; and

(2) is eligible for health care furnished through the Veterans Community Care Program under section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, at a non-Department facility.

(c) Locations.— The Secretary shall establish regions for purposes of care coordination provided by Regional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinators hired or designated under subsection (a). In establishing such regions, the Secretary shall—

(1) assign all Department facilities to an appropriate region under the supervision of the BGOSoE Director and a designated Regional Breast and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinator; and

(2) take into account existing VISNs and the specific needs of veterans in each region, including veterans living in rural communities.

(d) Duties of regional breast and gynecological cancer care coordinators.— The Regional Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Care Coordinator hired or designated under subsection (a) shall be responsible for carrying out the following duties:

(1) Ensuring the coordination of care between clinicians of the Department and breast and gynecologic cancer community care providers.

(2) Working with the Office of Community Care of the relevant medical facility of the Department regarding care furnished under such section.

(3) Making regular contact with each veteran based on the veteran’s specific medical needs when the veteran receives care from a community care provider.

(4) Monitoring—

(A) the services furnished to veterans by the Department and community care providers;

(B) the health outcomes of veterans with respect to a cancer diagnosis, including remission, metastasis, and death; and

(C) the data relating to breast and gynecologic cancer care (using relevant databases of the Veterans Health Administration or other Department databases), including—

(i) the demographics of veterans who have breast or gynecologic cancer; and

(ii) the number of veterans being treated for breast or gynecologic cancer.

(5) Providing particular information to veterans with breast or gynecologic cancer, including—

(A) how to seek emergency care at the emergency department closest to the residence of the veteran, including that it is generally advisable for veterans to notify the Department of emergency care received at a non-Department facility within 72 hours of receiving care to facilitate the authorization of payments for such emergency treatment; and

(B) information about mental health resources, including with respect to information encouraging follow-up care for depression.

(6) Documenting certain information on veterans receiving care for breast or gynecologic care in the electronic health records of the Department, including—

(A) the documentation of the contact described in paragraph (3);

(B) the contact information of the breast or gynecologic cancer care community care providers of such veterans; and

(C) the breast or gynecologic cancer diagnosis of veterans.

(7) Carrying out such other duties as may be determined appropriate by the Secretary.

(e) Report.— Not later than three years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report containing the following:

(1) A comparison of the health outcomes of veterans who received cancer care at a Department facility and those who received care furnished by non-Department medical providers pursuant to section 1703 of title 38, United States Code, include with respect to the following:

(A) Treatment and types of health outcomes, including (for the most recent three years of available data)—

(i) the number of veterans who were diagnosed with a breast or gynecologic cancer, or precancerous breast or gynecologic condition;

(ii) the percentage of such veterans who have experienced a cancer-related death; and

(iii) the percentage of such veterans who have entered remission for gynecologic cancer.

(B) Timeliness of care furnished under chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, including how quickly initial post-diagnosis appointments and appointments to develop a treatment plan are scheduled and provided.

(C) Patient safety associated with such care at Department facilities or community care providers, including the number of errors in medical care that rise to the level of “never events” (such as a foreign body left in a veteran during surgery).

(2) An evaluation of what changes or additional resources are needed to further improve breast and gynecologic cancer care and coordination.

(3) Any other matter the Secretary determines appropriate.

(f) Definitions.— In this section:

(1) The term community care provider means a health care provider described in section 1703(c) of title 38, United States Code, who has entered into a contract or agreement to furnish hospital care, medical services, or extended care services (other than care related to breast and gynecologic cancer) to veterans under section 1703 of title 38, United States Code.

(2) The term breast and gynecologic cancer community care provider means a breast or gynecologic cancer care provider described in section 1703(c) of title 38, United States Code, who has entered into a contract or agreement to furnish hospital care, medical services, or extended care services to provide care related to breast or gynecologic cancer to veterans under section 1703 of title 38F, United States Code.

(3) The term breast cancer has the meaning given such term by the Director of the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence.

(4) The term gynecologic cancer means cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, vaginal cancer, vulvar cancer, and gestational trophoblastic neoplasia.

(5) The term non-Department facility has the meaning given that term in section 1701 of title 38, United States Code.

Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking “November 30, 2031” and inserting “September 30, 2032”.