Sec. 295. Pilot program on integration of complementary and integrative health within Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers
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Not later than 180 days after the completion of the development of the plan under section 294, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— carry out, through the Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation of the Department of Veterans Affairs, a pilot program to assess the feasibility and advisability of integrating the delivery of complementary and integrative health services selected by the Secretary with other health care services provided by the Department for veterans with mental health conditions, chronic pain conditions, other chronic conditions, and such other conditions as the Secretary determines appropriate; and in developing the pilot program— use the plan developed under section 294; identify and, to the extent practicable, resolve barriers to the provision of complementary and integrative health services selected by the Secretary and the integration of those services with other health care services provided by the Department; identify means of improving coordination between Federal, State, local, and community providers of health care in the provision of pain management and related health care services to veterans; identify means of enhancing outreach, and coordination of outreach, by and among providers of health care described in subparagraph
(C)regarding the pain management and related health care services available to veterans; identify means of using wellness-based programs offered by providers of health care described in subparagraph
(C)to complement the provision by the Department of pain management and related health care services to veterans; and assess whether wellness-based programs described in subparagraph (E)— are effective in enhancing the quality of life and well-being of veterans; are effective in increasing the adherence of veterans to the primary pain management and related health care services provided such veterans by the Department; have an effect on the sense of well-being of veterans who receive primary pain management and related health care services from the Department; and are effective in encouraging veterans receiving health care from the Department to adopt a more healthy lifestyle. The Secretary shall carry out the pilot program during the three-year period beginning on the date that is 180 days after the completion of the development of the plan under section 294. The Secretary shall carry out the pilot program at not fewer than 15 medical centers of the Department. Not fewer than two of the medical centers designated under paragraph
(1)shall be located at polytrauma rehabilitation centers of the Department. In selecting medical centers under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to medical centers of the Department at which there is a prescription rate of opioids that conflicts with or is otherwise inconsistent with the standards of appropriate and safe care. In this paragraph, the term prescription rate means, with respect to a medical center of the Department, each of the following: The number of patients treated with opioids at the medical center divided by the total number of pharmacy users at the medical center. The average number of morphine equivalents per day prescribed at the medical center to patients being treated with opioids. Of the patients being treated with opioids at the medical center, the average number of prescriptions of opioids per patient. In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary shall select locations that include the following areas: Rural areas. Areas that are not in close proximity to an active duty military installation. Areas representing different geographic locations, such as census tracts established by the Bureau of the Census. Under the pilot program, the Secretary shall provide covered services to covered veterans by integrating complementary and integrative health services with other services provided by the Department at the medical centers designated under subsection (c)(1). For purposes of the pilot program, a covered veteran is any veteran who— has a mental health condition diagnosed by a clinician of the Department; experiences chronic pain; has a chronic condition being treated by a clinician of the Department; or is not described in paragraph (1), (2), or
(3)and requests to participate in the pilot program or is referred by a clinician of the Department who is treating the veteran. For purposes of the pilot program, covered services are services consisting of complementary and integrative health services as selected by the Secretary. Covered services shall be administered under the pilot program as follows: Covered services shall be administered by professionals or other instructors with appropriate training and expertise in complementary and integrative health services who are employees of the Department or with whom the Department enters into an agreement to provide such services. Covered services shall be included as part of the Patient Aligned Care Teams initiative of the Office of Patient Care Services, Primary Care Program Office, in coordination with the Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation. Covered services shall be made available to— covered veterans who have received conventional treatments from the Department for the conditions for which the covered veteran seeks complementary and integrative health services under the pilot program; and covered veterans who have not received conventional treatments from the Department for such conditions. The participation of a veteran in the pilot program shall be at the election of the veteran and in consultation with a clinician of the Department. Not later than 30 months after the date of the commencement of the pilot program, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a report on the pilot program. The report submitted under paragraph
(1)shall include the following: The findings and conclusions of the Secretary with respect to the pilot program, including with respect to— the use and efficacy of the complementary and integrative health services established under the pilot program; the outreach conducted by the Secretary to inform veterans and community organizations about the pilot program; and an assessment of the benefit of the pilot program to covered veterans in mental health diagnoses, pain management, and treatment of chronic illness. A description of barriers identified under subsection (a)(2)(B) that were not resolved. Such recommendations for the continuation or expansion of the pilot program as the Secretary considers appropriate. In this section, the term complementary and integrative health shall have the meaning given that term in section 211(g).