TELECONSULTATION AND TELEMEDICINE.

SEC. 108. TELECONSULTATION AND TELEMEDICINE. (a) Teleconsultation.— (1) In general.—Subchapter I of chapter 17, as amended by section 106(a), is further amended by adding at the end the following new section: “SEC. 1709A. [38 U.S.C. 1709A] Teleconsultation “(a) Teleconsultation. (1) The Secretary shall carry out an initiative of teleconsultation for the provision of remote mental health and traumatic brain injury assessments in facilities of the Department that are not otherwise able to provide such assessments without contracting with third-party providers or reimbursing providers through a fee basis system. “(2) The Secretary shall, in consultation with appropriate professional societies, promulgate technical and clinical care standards for the use of teleconsultation services within facilities of the Department. “(3) In carrying out an initiative under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall ensure that facilities of the Department are able to provide a mental health or traumatic brain injury assessment to a veteran through contracting with a third-party provider or reimbursing a provider through a fee basis system when— “(A) such facilities are not able to provide such assessment to the veteran without— “(i) such contracting or reimbursement; or “(ii) teleconsultation; and “(B) providing such assessment with such contracting or reimbursement is more clinically appropriate for the veteran than providing such assessment with teleconsultation. “(b) Teleconsultation Defined. In this section, the term ‘teleconsultation’ means the use by a health care specialist of telecommunications to assist another health care provider in rendering a diagnosis or treatment.” . (2) Clerical amendment.—The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 17 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1709, as added by section 106(b), the following new item: “1709A. Teleconsultation.” . (b) [38 U.S.C. 7406 note] Training in Telemedicine.— (1) In general.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, to the extent feasible, offer medical residents opportunities in training in telemedicine for medical residency programs. The Secretary shall consult with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and with universities with which facilities of the Department have a major affiliation to determine the feasibility and advisability of making telehealth a mandatory component of medical residency programs. (2) Telemedicine defined.—In this subsection, the term “telemedicine” means the use by a health care provider of telecommunications to assist in the diagnosis or treatment of a patient’s medical condition.