| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 668 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Office of Falls |
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| 6 | 6 | | Prevention of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | FEBRUARY20, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. K |
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| 10 | 10 | | ING(for himself and Mr. ROUNDS) introduced the following bill; which |
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| 11 | 11 | | was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the |
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| 14 | 14 | | Office of Falls Prevention of the Department of Veterans |
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| 15 | 15 | | Affairs, and for other purposes. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Supporting Access to 4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Falls Education and Prevention and Strengthening Train-5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | ing Efforts and Promoting Safety Initiatives for Veterans 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘SAFE STEPS for Veterans Act of 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | 2025’’. 8 |
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| 25 | 25 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 27 | 27 | | SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF FALLS PREVEN-1 |
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| 28 | 28 | | TION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | FAIRS. 3 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (a) E |
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| 31 | 31 | | STABLISHMENT OF OFFICE.— 4 |
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| 32 | 32 | | (1) I |
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| 33 | 33 | | N GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 73 5 |
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| 34 | 34 | | of title 38, United States Code, is amended by in-6 |
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| 35 | 35 | | serting after section 7310A the following new sec-7 |
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| 36 | 36 | | tion: 8 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ‘‘§ 7310B. Office of Falls Prevention 9 |
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| 38 | 38 | | ‘‘(a) O |
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| 39 | 39 | | FFICE.— 10 |
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| 40 | 40 | | ‘‘(1) E |
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| 41 | 41 | | STABLISHMENT AND OPERATION .—The 11 |
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| 42 | 42 | | Under Secretary for Health shall establish and oper-12 |
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| 43 | 43 | | ate in the Veterans Health Administration the Office 13 |
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| 44 | 44 | | of Falls Prevention (in this section referred to as the 14 |
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| 45 | 45 | | ‘Office’). 15 |
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| 46 | 46 | | ‘‘(2) L |
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| 47 | 47 | | OCATION OF OFFICE.—The Office shall 16 |
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| 48 | 48 | | be located at the Central Office of the Department. 17 |
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| 49 | 49 | | ‘‘(3) L |
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| 50 | 50 | | EADERSHIP.— 18 |
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| 51 | 51 | | ‘‘(A) H |
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| 52 | 52 | | EAD.—The head of the Office is the 19 |
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| 53 | 53 | | Chief Officer of Falls Prevention (in this sec-20 |
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| 54 | 54 | | tion referred to as the ‘Chief Officer’). 21 |
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| 55 | 55 | | ‘‘(B) R |
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| 56 | 56 | | EPORTING.—The Chief Officer shall 22 |
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| 57 | 57 | | report to the Under Secretary for Health. 23 |
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| 58 | 58 | | ‘‘(4) S |
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| 59 | 59 | | TAFFING AND SUPPORT .—The Under 24 |
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| 60 | 60 | | Secretary for Health shall provide the Office with 25 |
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| 61 | 61 | | such staff and other support as may be necessary 26 |
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| 63 | 63 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 65 | 65 | | for the Office to carry out effectively the functions 1 |
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| 66 | 66 | | of the Office under this section. 2 |
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| 67 | 67 | | ‘‘(5) R |
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| 68 | 68 | | EORGANIZATION.—The Under Secretary 3 |
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| 69 | 69 | | for Health may reorganize existing offices within the 4 |
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| 70 | 70 | | Veterans Health Administration as of the date of 5 |
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| 71 | 71 | | the enactment of this section in order to avoid dupli-6 |
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| 72 | 72 | | cation with the functions of the Office. 7 |
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| 73 | 73 | | ‘‘(b) F |
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| 74 | 74 | | UNCTIONS.—The functions of the Office in-8 |
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| 75 | 75 | | clude the following: 9 |
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| 76 | 76 | | ‘‘(1) To provide a central office for monitoring 10 |
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| 77 | 77 | | and encouraging the activities of the Veterans 11 |
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| 78 | 78 | | Health Administration with respect to the provision, 12 |
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| 79 | 79 | | evaluation, and improvement of health care services 13 |
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| 80 | 80 | | relating to falls prevention provided to veterans by 14 |
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| 81 | 81 | | the Department, with the goal of averting costly 15 |
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| 82 | 82 | | health care utilization while decreasing the incidence 16 |
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| 83 | 83 | | of falls. 17 |
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| 84 | 84 | | ‘‘(2) To develop and implement standards of 18 |
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| 85 | 85 | | care for the provision by the Department of health 19 |
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| 86 | 86 | | care services relating to falls prevention. 20 |
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| 87 | 87 | | ‘‘(3) To monitor and identify deficiencies in 21 |
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| 88 | 88 | | standards of care for the provision of health care 22 |
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| 89 | 89 | | services relating to falls prevention, to provide tech-23 |
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| 90 | 90 | | nical assistance to medical facilities of the Depart-24 |
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| 91 | 91 | | ment, to provide technical assistance to programs of 25 |
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| 93 | 93 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4 |
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| 94 | 94 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 95 | 95 | | the Department that support veterans in their own 1 |
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| 96 | 96 | | homes, to address and remedy deficiencies of such 2 |
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| 97 | 97 | | facilities and programs, and to perform oversight of 3 |
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| 98 | 98 | | implementation of such standards of care. 4 |
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| 99 | 99 | | ‘‘(4) To monitor and identify deficiencies in 5 |
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| 100 | 100 | | standards of care for the provision of health care 6 |
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| 101 | 101 | | services relating to falls prevention through the com-7 |
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| 102 | 102 | | munity pursuant to this title and to provide rec-8 |
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| 103 | 103 | | ommendations to the appropriate office to address 9 |
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| 104 | 104 | | and remedy any deficiencies. 10 |
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| 105 | 105 | | ‘‘(5) To oversee distribution of resources and 11 |
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| 106 | 106 | | information related to falls prevention for veterans 12 |
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| 107 | 107 | | under this title. 13 |
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| 108 | 108 | | ‘‘(6) To promote the expansion and improve-14 |
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| 109 | 109 | | ment of clinical, research, and educational activities 15 |
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| 110 | 110 | | of the Veterans Health Administration with respect 16 |
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| 111 | 111 | | to health care services relating to falls prevention, 17 |
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| 112 | 112 | | including research activities on falls prevention con-18 |
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| 113 | 113 | | ducted between the Office of Research and Develop-19 |
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| 114 | 114 | | ment of the Department and the National Institute 20 |
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| 115 | 115 | | on Aging. 21 |
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| 116 | 116 | | ‘‘(7) To promote the development or expansion 22 |
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| 117 | 117 | | of rigorous quality assessment or improvement proc-23 |
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| 118 | 118 | | esses designed to prevent falls, including through co-24 |
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| 119 | 119 | | ordination and collaboration with offices within the 25 |
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| 121 | 121 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 |
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| 122 | 122 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 123 | 123 | | Department determined appropriate by the Sec-1 |
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| 124 | 124 | | retary. 2 |
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| 125 | 125 | | ‘‘(8) To coordinate home modification and ad-3 |
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| 126 | 126 | | aptation programs administered by the Under Sec-4 |
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| 127 | 127 | | retary for Benefits under chapter 21 of this title and 5 |
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| 128 | 128 | | the Under Secretary for Health under section 6 |
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| 129 | 129 | | 1717(a)(2) of this title. 7 |
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| 130 | 130 | | ‘‘(9) To carry out such other duties as the 8 |
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| 131 | 131 | | Under Secretary for Health may require. 9 |
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| 132 | 132 | | ‘‘(c) P |
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| 133 | 133 | | UBLICEDUCATIONCAMPAIGN.—The Chief Of-10 |
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| 134 | 134 | | ficer shall— 11 |
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| 135 | 135 | | ‘‘(1) oversee and support a national education 12 |
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| 136 | 136 | | campaign that— 13 |
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| 137 | 137 | | ‘‘(A) is directed principally to veterans de-14 |
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| 138 | 138 | | termined to be at risk for falls, their families, 15 |
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| 139 | 139 | | and their health care providers; and 16 |
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| 140 | 140 | | ‘‘(B) focuses on— 17 |
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| 141 | 141 | | ‘‘(i) reducing falls, falls with major in-18 |
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| 142 | 142 | | jury, and repeat falls for veterans receiving 19 |
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| 143 | 143 | | care under the laws administered by the 20 |
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| 144 | 144 | | Secretary; and 21 |
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| 145 | 145 | | ‘‘(ii) increasing awareness of available 22 |
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| 146 | 146 | | benefits, grants, devices, or services pro-23 |
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| 147 | 147 | | vided by the Department that would aid 24 |
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| 149 | 149 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6 |
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| 150 | 150 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 151 | 151 | | veterans in reducing falls and preventing 1 |
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| 152 | 152 | | repeat falls; and 2 |
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| 153 | 153 | | ‘‘(2) award grants or contracts to qualified or-3 |
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| 154 | 154 | | ganizations for the purpose of supporting local edu-4 |
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| 155 | 155 | | cation campaigns focusing on reducing falls, falls 5 |
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| 156 | 156 | | with major injury, and repeat falls for veterans re-6 |
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| 157 | 157 | | ceiving care under the laws administered by the Sec-7 |
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| 158 | 158 | | retary. 8 |
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| 159 | 159 | | ‘‘(d) R |
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| 160 | 160 | | ESEARCH ONFALLSPREVENTIONPROGRAMS 9 |
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| 161 | 161 | | FORVETERANPOPULATIONS.— 10 |
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| 162 | 162 | | ‘‘(1) I |
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| 163 | 163 | | N GENERAL.—The Chief Officer shall 11 |
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| 164 | 164 | | work with the Office of Research and Development 12 |
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| 165 | 165 | | of the Department and the National Institute on 13 |
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| 166 | 166 | | Aging to develop research for evidence-based falls 14 |
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| 167 | 167 | | prevention programs that will benefit veterans, in-15 |
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| 168 | 168 | | cluding— 16 |
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| 169 | 169 | | ‘‘(A) programs that overlap with the prior-17 |
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| 170 | 170 | | ities of the Department; 18 |
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| 171 | 171 | | ‘‘(B) programs that may focus on or be of 19 |
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| 172 | 172 | | particular benefit to veterans; and 20 |
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| 173 | 173 | | ‘‘(C) programs that may include partici-21 |
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| 174 | 174 | | pants with multiple comorbidities. 22 |
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| 175 | 175 | | ‘‘(2) M |
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| 176 | 176 | | ATTERS TO BE INCLUDED .—The re-23 |
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| 177 | 177 | | search required under paragraph (1) shall include 24 |
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| 178 | 178 | | the following: 25 |
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| 180 | 180 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7 |
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| 181 | 181 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 182 | 182 | | ‘‘(A) Research in supporting veterans with 1 |
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| 183 | 183 | | and without service-connected disabilities receiv-2 |
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| 184 | 184 | | ing home modification grants under section 3 |
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| 185 | 185 | | 1717 or 2101 of this title. 4 |
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| 186 | 186 | | ‘‘(B) Development of recommendations for 5 |
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| 187 | 187 | | falls prevention interventions for veterans with 6 |
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| 188 | 188 | | service-connected disabilities, including home 7 |
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| 189 | 189 | | modification interventions. 8 |
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| 190 | 190 | | ‘‘(C) Research addressing medication man-9 |
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| 191 | 191 | | agement and polypharmacy as risk factors for 10 |
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| 192 | 192 | | falls prevention and developing recommenda-11 |
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| 193 | 193 | | tions for providers and electronic health records 12 |
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| 194 | 194 | | systems of the Department to monitor for vet-13 |
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| 195 | 195 | | erans at risk of falls based on use of certain 14 |
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| 196 | 196 | | medications. 15 |
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| 197 | 197 | | ‘‘(D) Research on improvements for safe 16 |
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| 198 | 198 | | patient handling and mobility among veterans, 17 |
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| 199 | 199 | | particularly in facilities (both medical and non- 18 |
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| 200 | 200 | | medical) that are not spinal cord injury centers. 19 |
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| 201 | 201 | | ‘‘(3) S |
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| 202 | 202 | | UBJECT MATTER EXPERT PANEL .— 20 |
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| 203 | 203 | | ‘‘(A) I |
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| 204 | 204 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary and the 21 |
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| 205 | 205 | | Director of the National Institute on Aging 22 |
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| 206 | 206 | | shall establish a joint subject matter expert 23 |
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| 207 | 207 | | panel to develop recommendations as required 24 |
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| 208 | 208 | | under paragraph (2)(B). 25 |
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| 210 | 210 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8 |
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| 211 | 211 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 212 | 212 | | ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The subject matter 1 |
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| 213 | 213 | | expert panel required under subparagraph (A) 2 |
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| 214 | 214 | | shall be comprised of eight members, of 3 |
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| 215 | 215 | | which— 4 |
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| 216 | 216 | | ‘‘(i) four shall be appointed by the 5 |
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| 217 | 217 | | Secretary; and 6 |
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| 218 | 218 | | ‘‘(ii) four shall be appointed by the 7 |
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| 219 | 219 | | Director of the National Institute on 8 |
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| 220 | 220 | | Aging.’’. 9 |
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| 221 | 221 | | (2) E |
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| 222 | 222 | | STABLISHMENT OF JOINT SUBJECT MAT -10 |
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| 223 | 223 | | TER EXPERT PANEL.—Not later than 180 days after 11 |
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| 224 | 224 | | the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 12 |
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| 225 | 225 | | of Veterans Affairs and the Director of the National 13 |
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| 226 | 226 | | Institute on Aging shall establish the joint subject 14 |
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| 227 | 227 | | matter expert panel required under section 15 |
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| 228 | 228 | | 7310B(d)(3) of title 38, United States Code, as 16 |
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| 229 | 229 | | added by paragraph (1). 17 |
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| 230 | 230 | | (3) C |
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| 231 | 231 | | LERICAL AMENDMENT .—The table of sec-18 |
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| 232 | 232 | | tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 19 |
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| 233 | 233 | | by inserting after the item relating to section 7310A 20 |
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| 234 | 234 | | the following new item: 21 |
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| 235 | 235 | | ‘‘7310B. Office of Falls Prevention.’’. |
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| 236 | 236 | | (b) EXPANSION OF INTERAGENCY COORDINATING 22 |
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| 237 | 237 | | C |
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| 238 | 238 | | OMMITTEE ON HEALTHYAGING ANDAGE-FRIENDLY 23 |
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| 239 | 239 | | C |
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| 240 | 240 | | OMMUNITIES.—Section 203(c) of the Older Americans 24 |
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| 241 | 241 | | Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3013(c)) is amended— 25 |
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| 243 | 243 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9 |
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| 244 | 244 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 245 | 245 | | (1) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘the Sec-1 |
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| 246 | 246 | | retary of Veterans Affairs,’’ after ‘‘the Commissioner 2 |
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| 247 | 247 | | of Social Security,’’; and 3 |
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| 248 | 248 | | (2) in paragraph (7), in the matter preceding 4 |
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| 249 | 249 | | subparagraph (A)— 5 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (A) by inserting ‘‘the Committee on Vet-6 |
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| 251 | 251 | | erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives,’’ 7 |
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| 252 | 252 | | after ‘‘the Committee on Ways and Means of 8 |
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| 253 | 253 | | the House of Representatives,’’; and 9 |
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| 254 | 254 | | (B) by inserting ‘‘the Committee on Vet-10 |
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| 255 | 255 | | erans’ Affairs of the Senate,’’ after ‘‘the Com-11 |
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| 256 | 256 | | mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen-12 |
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| 257 | 257 | | sions of the Senate,’’. 13 |
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| 258 | 258 | | (c) S |
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| 259 | 259 | | AFEHANDLINGTRANSFERTECHNIQUES.—Not 14 |
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| 260 | 260 | | later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of 15 |
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| 261 | 261 | | this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall issue or 16 |
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| 262 | 262 | | update directives of the Veterans Health Administration 17 |
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| 263 | 263 | | for facilities and providers relating to safe patient han-18 |
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| 264 | 264 | | dling and mobility policies at the national, Veterans Inte-19 |
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| 265 | 265 | | grated Service Network, and health-care system levels, 20 |
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| 266 | 266 | | which shall include the following: 21 |
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| 267 | 267 | | (1) Requiring biennial training for providers, 22 |
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| 268 | 268 | | including that all providers be trained in safe patient 23 |
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| 269 | 269 | | handling and use of mobility aids and mobility tech-24 |
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| 270 | 270 | | niques. 25 |
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| 272 | 272 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10 |
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| 273 | 273 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 274 | 274 | | (2) Requiring that any medical facility where 1 |
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| 275 | 275 | | patients may need assistance with transfer or mobil-2 |
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| 276 | 276 | | ity have access to safe patient handling and mobility 3 |
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| 277 | 277 | | technology appropriate for the setting to enable safe 4 |
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| 278 | 278 | | transfer and mobilization for access to care and ac-5 |
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| 279 | 279 | | tivities of daily living for veterans who are paralyzed 6 |
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| 280 | 280 | | or who need assistance with mobility. 7 |
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| 281 | 281 | | (3) Requiring that all emergency settings have 8 |
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| 282 | 282 | | immediate access to safe patient handling and mobil-9 |
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| 283 | 283 | | ity technology to enable safe transfer, fall recovery, 10 |
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| 284 | 284 | | and repositioning. 11 |
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| 285 | 285 | | (d) P |
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| 286 | 286 | | ILOTPROGRAM ONFALLSPREVENTIONINTER-12 |
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| 287 | 287 | | VENTIONSTIED TORESIDENTIALADAPTATIONS ANDAL-13 |
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| 288 | 288 | | TERATIONS.— 14 |
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| 289 | 289 | | (1) D |
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| 290 | 290 | | ETERMINATION.—The Secretary of Vet-15 |
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| 291 | 291 | | erans Affairs shall determine the feasibility and ad-16 |
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| 292 | 292 | | visability of carrying out a pilot program to provide 17 |
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| 293 | 293 | | home improvements and structural alterations to 18 |
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| 294 | 294 | | prevent falls for all veterans eligible for those serv-19 |
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| 295 | 295 | | ices under the laws administered by the Secretary. 20 |
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| 296 | 296 | | (2) P |
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| 297 | 297 | | LAN.—Not later than one year after the 21 |
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| 298 | 298 | | date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 22 |
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| 299 | 299 | | shall submit to Congress a report— 23 |
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| 300 | 300 | | (A) indicating the plans of the Secretary to 24 |
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| 301 | 301 | | carry out a pilot program to provide home im-25 |
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| 303 | 303 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11 |
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| 304 | 304 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 305 | 305 | | provements and structural alterations to pre-1 |
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| 306 | 306 | | vent falls for all veterans eligible for those serv-2 |
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| 307 | 307 | | ices under the laws administered by the Sec-3 |
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| 308 | 308 | | retary; or 4 |
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| 309 | 309 | | (B) specifying why the Secretary deter-5 |
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| 310 | 310 | | mined under paragraph (1) that it is not fea-6 |
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| 311 | 311 | | sible or advisable to carry out such a pilot pro-7 |
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| 312 | 312 | | gram. 8 |
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| 313 | 313 | | (3) R |
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| 314 | 314 | | EPORT ON LESSONS LEARNED .—If the 9 |
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| 315 | 315 | | Secretary carries out the pilot program described in 10 |
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| 316 | 316 | | paragraph (1), not later than 180 days after the ter-11 |
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| 317 | 317 | | mination of the pilot program, the Chief Officer of 12 |
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| 318 | 318 | | Falls Prevention of the Department of Veterans Af-13 |
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| 319 | 319 | | fairs established under section 7310B(a)(3)(A) of 14 |
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| 320 | 320 | | title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 15 |
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| 321 | 321 | | (a)(1), shall submit to Congress a report on lessons 16 |
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| 322 | 322 | | learned from the pilot program and any rec-17 |
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| 323 | 323 | | ommendations on extending or expanding the pilot 18 |
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| 324 | 324 | | program. 19 |
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| 325 | 325 | | (e) R |
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| 326 | 326 | | EPORT ONFALLSPREVENTIONINITIATIVES.— 20 |
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| 327 | 327 | | (1) I |
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| 328 | 328 | | N GENERAL.—Not later than two years 21 |
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| 329 | 329 | | after the date of the enactment of this Act, or one 22 |
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| 330 | 330 | | year after the appointment of the Chief Officer of 23 |
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| 331 | 331 | | Falls Prevention of the Department of Veterans Af-24 |
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| 332 | 332 | | fairs established under section 7310B(a)(3)(A) of 25 |
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| 334 | 334 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12 |
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| 335 | 335 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 336 | 336 | | title 38, United States Code, as added by subsection 1 |
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| 337 | 337 | | (a)(1), whichever occurs first, the Chief Officer, or 2 |
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| 338 | 338 | | the Under Secretary for Health of the Department 3 |
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| 339 | 339 | | of Veterans Affairs if a Chief Officer has not yet 4 |
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| 340 | 340 | | been appointed, shall submit to Congress a report on 5 |
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| 341 | 341 | | falls prevention initiatives within the Department. 6 |
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| 342 | 342 | | (2) E |
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| 343 | 343 | | LEMENTS.—The report required by para-7 |
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| 344 | 344 | | graph (1) shall evaluate, for the three-year period 8 |
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| 345 | 345 | | preceding the date of the enactment of this Act— 9 |
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| 346 | 346 | | (A) screening procedures at facilities of the 10 |
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| 347 | 347 | | Veterans Health Administration for risk of falls 11 |
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| 348 | 348 | | and the prevalence of resulting falls prevention 12 |
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| 349 | 349 | | interventions; 13 |
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| 350 | 350 | | (B) the use by the Department of elec-14 |
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| 351 | 351 | | tronic health record documentation for risk of 15 |
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| 352 | 352 | | falls among veterans; 16 |
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| 353 | 353 | | (C) the number of home modification 17 |
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| 354 | 354 | | grants provided under either the Home Im-18 |
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| 355 | 355 | | provements and Structural Alterations Program 19 |
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| 356 | 356 | | of the Department under section 1717 of title 20 |
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| 357 | 357 | | 38, United States Code, or the Specially Adapt-21 |
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| 358 | 358 | | ed Housing Program of the Department under 22 |
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| 359 | 359 | | section 2101 of such title; 23 |
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| 360 | 360 | | (D) the extent to which grants provided 24 |
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| 361 | 361 | | under the programs specified under subpara-25 |
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| 364 | 364 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 365 | 365 | | graph (C) prevent falls among veterans and any 1 |
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| 366 | 366 | | recommendations with respect to such programs 2 |
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| 367 | 367 | | in the case of falls among veterans that were 3 |
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| 368 | 368 | | not prevented; 4 |
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| 369 | 369 | | (E) for veterans eligible for the Home Im-5 |
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| 370 | 370 | | provements and Structural Alterations Program 6 |
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| 371 | 371 | | of the Department under section 1717 of title 7 |
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| 372 | 372 | | 38, United States Code, pursuant to subsection 8 |
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| 373 | 373 | | (a)(2)(B) of such section, the number of home 9 |
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| 374 | 374 | | modification grants provided to each veteran in 10 |
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| 375 | 375 | | receipt of such a grant; 11 |
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| 376 | 376 | | (F) the types of providers that have con-12 |
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| 377 | 377 | | ducted medical assessments leading to a rec-13 |
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| 378 | 378 | | ommendation for a home modification tied to 14 |
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| 379 | 379 | | medical necessity, and any recommendations for 15 |
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| 380 | 380 | | legislative or administrative action to expand 16 |
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| 381 | 381 | | the list of providers eligible to conduct medical 17 |
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| 382 | 382 | | assessments leading to a recommendation for a 18 |
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| 383 | 383 | | home modification; 19 |
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| 384 | 384 | | (G) home evaluation processes that are 20 |
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| 385 | 385 | | conducted in connection with awards made 21 |
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| 386 | 386 | | under the programs specified under subpara-22 |
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| 387 | 387 | | graph (C) and any recommendations for im-23 |
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| 388 | 388 | | proving the evaluation and review process; 24 |
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| 391 | 391 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 392 | 392 | | (H) reporting programs and software of 1 |
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| 393 | 393 | | the Department used to capture incidences of 2 |
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| 394 | 394 | | falls in care sites of the Veterans Health Ad-3 |
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| 395 | 395 | | ministration and other veterans’ settings; 4 |
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| 396 | 396 | | (I) limitations on uptake and use of cur-5 |
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| 397 | 397 | | rent prevention, screening, and intervention 6 |
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| 398 | 398 | | programs designed to address falls prevention; 7 |
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| 399 | 399 | | and 8 |
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| 400 | 400 | | (J) recommendations for the Secretary of 9 |
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| 401 | 401 | | Veterans Affairs to work with the Centers for 10 |
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| 402 | 402 | | Disease Control and Prevention, or other enti-11 |
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| 403 | 403 | | ties determined appropriate by the Secretary, to 12 |
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| 404 | 404 | | better capture data on falls by a veteran occur-13 |
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| 405 | 405 | | ring in the home or in the community. 14 |
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| 406 | 406 | | SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF FALLS ASSESSMENT AND FALL 15 |
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| 407 | 407 | | PREVENTION SERVICE REQUIREMENTS FOR 16 |
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| 408 | 408 | | VETERANS. 17 |
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| 409 | 409 | | (a) R |
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| 410 | 410 | | EQUIREDNURSINGHOMECARE.—Section 18 |
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| 411 | 411 | | 1710A of title 38, United States Code, is amended by 19 |
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| 412 | 412 | | striking subsection (d) and inserting the following: 20 |
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| 413 | 413 | | ‘‘(d) In the case of an individual determined by a phy-21 |
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| 414 | 414 | | sician to have fallen or to have been at risk of falling dur-22 |
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| 415 | 415 | | ing the previous one-year period, the Secretary shall en-23 |
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| 416 | 416 | | sure that a licensed physical therapist or a licensed occu-24 |
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| 417 | 417 | | pational therapist conducts a falls risk assessment for the 25 |
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| 420 | 420 | | •S 668 IS |
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| 421 | 421 | | individual and provides fall prevention services during the 1 |
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| 422 | 422 | | stay of the individual in the nursing home. 2 |
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| 423 | 423 | | ‘‘(e) The provisions of subsection (a) shall terminate 3 |
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| 424 | 424 | | on September 30, 2028.’’. 4 |
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| 425 | 425 | | (b) E |
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| 426 | 426 | | XTENDEDCARESERVICES.—Section 1710B(a) 5 |
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| 427 | 427 | | of such title is amended by adding at the end the following 6 |
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| 428 | 428 | | new paragraph: 7 |
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| 429 | 429 | | ‘‘(7) The conduct of an annual falls risk assess-8 |
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| 430 | 430 | | ment and the provision of fall prevention services by 9 |
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| 431 | 431 | | a licensed physical therapist or licensed occupational 10 |
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| 432 | 432 | | therapist.’’. 11 |
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| 433 | 433 | | Æ |
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