110 STAT. 3188 PUBLIC LAW 104-262—OCT. 9, 1996 SEC. 204. STRATEGIC PLANNING. Section 8107 is amended— (1) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (c); (2) by striking out subsection (a) and inserting in lieu thereof the following new subsections: Reports. "(a) In order to promote effective planning for the efficient provision of care to eligible veterans, the Secretary, based on the analysis and recommendations of the Under Secretary for Health, shall submit to each committee an annual report regarding longrange health planning of the Department. The report shall be submitted each year not later than the date on which the budget for the next fiscal year is submitted to the Congress under section 1105 of title 31. "(b) Each report under subsection (a) shall include the following: "(1) A five-year strategic plan for the provision of care under chapter 17 of this title to eligible veterans through coordinated networks of medical facilities operating within prescribed geographic service-delivery areas, such plan to include provision of services for the specialized treatment and rehabilitative needs of disabled veterans (including veterans with spinal cord dysfunction, blindness, amputations, and mental illness) through distinct programs or facilities of the Department dedicated to the specialized needs of those veterans. "(2) A description of how planning for the networks will be coordinated. "(3) A profile regarding each such network of medical facilities which identifies— "(A) the mission of each existing or proposed medical facility in the network; "(B) any planned change in the mission for any such facility and the rationale for such planned change; "(C) the population of veterans to be served by the network and anticipated changes over a five-year period and a ten-year period, respectively, in that population and in the health-care needs of that population; "(D) information relevant to assessing progress toward the goal of achieving relative equivalency in the level of resources per patient distributed to each network, such information to include the plans for and progress toward lowering the cost of care-delivery in the network (by megins such as changes in the mix in the network of physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and advance practice nurses); "(E) the capacity of non-Federal facilities in the network to provide acute, long-term, and specialized treatment and rehabilitative services (described in section 7305 of this title), and determinations regarding the extent to which services to be provided in each service-delivery area and each facility in such area should be provided directly through facilities of the Department or through contract or other arrangements, including arrangements authorized under sections 8111 and 8153 of this title; and "(F) a five-year plan for construction, replacement, or alteration projects in support of the approved mission of each facility in the network and a description of how those projects will improve access to care, or quality of care, for patients served in the network. "(4) A status report for each facility on progress toward—
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