H.R. 6595 — To direct the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to improve the availability of care for veterans at facilities of the Department of Defense.

This section requires the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs, pursuant to 38 U.S.C. §8111 and 10 U.S.C. §1104, to develop and implement action plans at covered facilities—generally, military medical treatment facilities identified by the Secretary of Defense as having excess capacity—to (1) strengthen resource sharing between the departments; (2) improve communication between VA and military medical treatment facility leadership; (3) increase utilization of military medical treatment facilities with excess capacity; (4) increase case volume and complexity for DOD and VA medical education programs; and (5) increase access to care for enrolled veterans near such facilities. (As background, 38 U.S.C. §8111 authorizes sharing agreements for health-care resources between VA and DOD facilities to enhance efficiency and access for veterans and service members.) The action plans must include (1) cross-credentialing and privileging of providers; (2) expedited access to DOD installations for VA staff and veterans; (3) designation of a liaison coordinator at each covered facility; (4) ongoing monitoring with performance goals and data collection; (5) prioritized integration of IT systems for seamless sharing, referrals, billing, and workload attribution; (6) oversight and accountability for adverse events and complaints, with reporting in congressional briefings; and (7) other appropriate matters. Plans require approval by the VA-DOD Joint Executive Committee co-chairs, the local DOD installation commander, and the relevant VA medical center director prior to completion and submission to congressional committees not later than 30 days thereafter. This section further requires a lead coordinator and public website list for all DOD-VA sharing agreements; a secure, confidential complaint mechanism for veterans prohibiting retaliation; quarterly joint review of complaints, adverse events, and safety incidents; prompt referral of abuse, neglect, or misconduct allegations to the DOD and VA Inspectors General; and authority for VA to suspend referrals pending investigation.