24 U.S.C. § 413a — Oversight of health care provided to residents

(a) Designation of Senior Medical Advisor. (1) The Secretary of Defense must designate the Deputy Director of the Defense Health Agency to serve as the Retirement Home's Senior Medical Advisor. (2) The Deputy Director serves as Senior Medical Advisor in addition to — not instead of — all the other duties and responsibilities assigned to the Deputy Director role, both at the time of this designation and afterward. (b) Responsibilities: The Senior Medical Advisor advises the Secretary of Defense, the Chief Operating Officer, and the Advisory Council on directing and overseeing (1) medical administrative matters at each Retirement Home facility, and (2) the medical care, preventive mental health care, and dental care services provided at each facility. (c) Duties: To carry out the responsibilities in subsection (b), the Senior Medical Advisor must (1) help make sure residents get timely access to medical, mental health, and dental care services they need outside the Retirement Home; (2) monitor whether Retirement Home facilities comply with accreditation standards and other applicable nationally recognized health care standards and requirements; (3) periodically visit each facility to review (A) its medical facilities, operations, records, reports, and the quality of care given to residents, and (B) inspections and audits, to check that appropriate follow-up on their findings and recommendations has happened; and (4) report the findings and recommendations from each review to the Chief Operating Officer, the Advisory Council, and the Secretary of Defense. (d) Advisory bodies: To carry out the responsibilities and duties in subsections (b) and (c), the Senior Medical Advisor may set up, and seek advice from, whatever advisory bodies the Senior Medical Advisor considers appropriate.