Title 38 › Part PART II— - GENERAL BENEFITS › Chapter CHAPTER 17— - HOSPITAL, NURSING HOME, DOMICILIARY, AND MEDICAL CARE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - GENERAL › § 1703C
The Secretary must create quality rules for hospital care, medical care, and extended care that the Department gives, including care bought from non‑Department providers. The Secretary must use existing public and private health measures so veterans can compare options and must make the rules match industry standards so data can move between VA and outside providers. The Secretary must gather and use data, including a veterans’ satisfaction survey of those who used services in the past 2 years (made with veterans groups and other stakeholders) and datasets that at least cover timely care, effective care, safety (like complications, readmissions, and deaths), efficiency, and patient quality‑of‑life outcomes. The Secretary must work with other federal agencies (for example, the Department of Defense, HHS, CMS, and Indian Health Service), private groups, and non‑profit groups (including Third Party Administrators), use modern data tools, avoid over‑ or under‑analyzing any metric, and use data staff efficiently. The Secretary must update the rules at least every 5 years and send a report to Congress within 30 days after each update. The Department must publish facility quality ratings at least every 3 years on the CMS Hospital Compare website. Within 2 years after making or changing the rules, the Secretary must ask for public comment on measure changes. “Appropriate committees of Congress” means the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs and Appropriations Committees. “Covered veterans” means the veterans described in section 1703(b).
Full Legal Text
Veterans' Benefits — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
38 U.S.C. § 1703C
Title 38 — Veterans' Benefits
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73