12 2 STA T .43 4 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 1 8 1 —J A N .28 , 2008 (C)Improve me nts tom a tters u n d ert h epo licy other -w ise identi f ied and a g reed upon b y the S ecretary of D efense and the Secretary of V eterans A ffairs . (b) REVI E WOF C UR RE NTP O L I C IE SA N D PROCEDURES. — ( 1 ) REVIEW RE Q UIRED.—In developing the policy re q uired by subsection (a) , the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall, to the e x tent necessary, j ointly and separately conduct a review of all policies and procedures of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs that apply to, or shall be covered by, the policy. ( 2 ) PUR P OSE.— T he purpose of the review shall be to identify the most effective and patient-oriented approaches to care and management of recovering service members for purposes of— (A) incorporating such approaches into the policy
and ( B ) extending such approaches, where applicable, to the care and management of other injured or ill members of the Armed F orces and veterans. ( 3 ) E LE M ENTS.—In conducting the review, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall— (A) identify among the policies and procedures described in paragraph (1) best practices in approaches to the care and management of recovering service members; (B) identify among such policies and procedures existing and potential shortfalls in the care and manage- ment of recovering service members (including care and management of recovering service members on the tem- porary disability retired list), and determine means of addressing any shortfalls so identified; (C) determine potential modifications of such policies and procedures in order to ensure consistency and uni- formity, where appropriate, in the application of such poli- cies and procedures— (i) among the military departments; (ii) among the Veterans Integrated Services N et- wor k s (VISNs) of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and (iii) between the military departments and the Vet- erans Integrated Services Networks; and (D) develop recommendations for legislative and administrative action necessary to implement the results of the review. ( 4 ) DEADLINE FOR COMPLETION.—The review shall be com- pleted not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (c) CONSIDERATION OF E X ISTIN G FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND PRACTICES.—In developing the policy required by subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall take into account the following
(1) The findings and recommendations of applicable studies, reviews, reports, and evaluations that address matters relating to the policy, including, but not limited, to the following: (A) The Independent Review G roup on Rehabilitative Care and Administrative Processes at W alter Reed Army M edical Center and National Naval Medical Center, appointed by the Secretary of Defense. Recom me nda-ti on s.
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