IMPROVED MEDICAL TRACKING SYSTEM FOR MEMBERS DEPLOYED OVERSEAS IN CONTINGENCY OR COMBAT OPERATIONS.

SEC. 765. IMPROVED MEDICAL TRACKING SYSTEM FOR MEMBERS DEPLOYED OVERSEAS IN CONTINGENCY OR COMBAT OPERATIONS. (a) System Required.—(1) Chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1074e (as added by section 764) the following new section: “§ 1074f. Medical tracking system for members deployed overseas “(a) System Required.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish a system to assess the medical condition of members of the armed forces (including members of the reserve components) who are deployed outside the United States or its territories or possessions as part of a contingency operation (including a humanitarian operation, peacekeeping operation, or similar operation) or combat operation. “(b) Elements of System.—The system described in subsection (a) shall include the use of predeployment medical examinations and postdeployment medical examinations (including an assessment of mental health and the drawing of blood samples) to accurately record the medical condition of members before their deployment and any changes in their medical condition during the course of their deployment. The postdeployment examination shall be conducted when the member is redeployed or otherwise leaves an area in which the system is in operation (or as soon as possible thereafter). “(c) Recordkeeping.—The results of all medical examinations conducted under the system, records of all health care services (including immunizations) received by members described in subsection (a) in anticipation of their deployment or during the course of their deployment, and records of events occurring in the deployment area that may affect the health of such members shall be retained and maintained in a centralized location to improve future access to the records. “(d) Quality Assurance.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish a quality assurance program to evaluate the success of the system in ensuring that members described in subsection (a) receive predeployment medical examinations and postdeployment medical examinations and that the recordkeeping requirements with respect to the system are met.”.111 STAT. 1827 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1074e (as added by section 764) the following new item: “1074f. Medical tracking system for members deployed overseas.”. (b) Report.—Not later than March 1, 1998, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress an analysis of the administrative implications of establishing and administering the medical tracking system required by section 1074f of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a). The report shall include, for fiscal year 1999 and the 5 successive fiscal years, a separate analysis and specification of the projected costs and operational considerations for each of the following required aspects of the system: (1) Predeployment medical examinations. (2) Postdeployment medical examinations. (3) Recordkeeping.