Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 3.djvu/234

 114 STAT. 1654A-192 PUBLIC LAW 106-398—APPENDIX Subtitle E—Joint Initiatives With Department of Veterans Affairs SEC. 741. VA -DOD SHARING AGREEMENTS FOR HEALTH SERVICES. (a) PRIMACY OF SHARING AGREEMENTS.— The Secretary of Defense shall— (1) give full force and effect to any agreement into which the Secretary or the Secretary of a military department entered under section 8111 of title 38, United States Code, or under section 1535 of title 31, United States Code, which was in effect on September 30, 1999; and (2) ensure that the Secretary of the military department concerned directly reimburses the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for any services or resources provided under such agreement in accordance with the terms of such agreement, including terms providing for reimbursement from funds available for that military department. (b) MODIFICATION OR TERMINATION. —Any agreement described in subsection (a) shall remain in effect in accordance with such subsection unless, during the 12-month period following the date of the enactment of this Act, such agreement is modified or terminated in accordance with the terms of such agreement. SEC. 742. PROCESSES FOR PATIENT SAFETY IN MILITARY AND VETER- ANS HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS. (a) ERROR TRACKING PROCESS. —The Secretary of Defense shall implement a centralized process for reporting, compilation, and analysis of errors in the provision of health care under the defense health program that endanger patients beyond the normal risks associated with the care and treatment of such patients. To the extent practicable, that process shall emulate the system established by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for reporting, compilation, and analysis of errors in the provision of health care under the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system that endanger patients beyond such risks. (b) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs— (1) shall share information regarding the designs of systems or protocols established to reduce errors in the provision of health care described in subsection (a); and (2) shall develop such protocols as the Secretaries consider necessary for the establishment and administration of effective processes for the reporting, compilation, and analysis of such errors. SEC, 743. COOPERATION IN DEVELOPING PHARMACEUTICAL IDENTI- FICATION TECHNOLOGY. The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall cooperate in developing systems for the use of bar codes for the identification of pharmaceuticals in the health care programs of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In any case in which a common pharmaceutical is used in such programs, the bar codes for those pharmaceuticals shall, to the maximum extent practicable, be identical.

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