12 2 STA T .4 41 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 1 8 1 —J A N .28 , 2008 SEC.16 1 2 . M E DI C AL E V AL U A T I ON S AND PHY SICAL DISA B ILITY EVALUATIONS O FR ECOVERIN G SERVICE MEMBERS. (a)MEDICALEV AL U A T I ONS O FR ECOVE R IN GS ERVICE ME M-B ERS .— ( 1 ) I N GENERAL.— Notl at er t h a nJu l y 1 ,20 0 8 , theSe c retary o fD efen s e shall d e v elo p a pol i cyoni m provements to the proc- esses, procedures, and standards for the conduct b y the military departments of medical evaluations of recoverin g service mem- bers. (2) ELEMENTS.— T he policy on improvements to processes, procedures, and standards re q uired under this subsection shall include and address the follo w ing
( A ) P rocesses for medical evaluations of recovering service members that— (i) apply uniformly throughout the military depart- ments
and (ii) apply uniformly with respect to recovering service members who are members of the regular components of the Armed F orces and recovering service members who are members of the National G uard and Reserve. ( B ) Standard criteria and definitions for determining the achievement for recovering service members of the ma x imum medical benefit from treatment and rehabilita- tion. ( C ) Standard timelines for each of the following: (i) Determinations of fitness for duty of recovering service members. (ii) Specialty care consultations for recovering service members. (iii) Preparation of medical documents for recov- ering service members. (iv) Appeals by recovering service members of med- ical evaluation determinations, including determina- tions of fitness for duty. (D) Procedures for ensuring that— (i) upon request of a recovering service member being considered by a medical evaluation board, a physician or other appropriate health care professional who is independent of the medical evaluation board is assigned to the service member; and (ii) the physician or other health care professional assigned to a recovering service member under clause (i)— (I) serves as an independent source for review of the findings and recommendations of the med- ical evaluation board; (II) provides the service member with advice and counsel regarding the findings and rec- ommendations of the medical evaluation board; and (III) advises the service member on whether the findings of the medical evaluation board ade- quately reflect the complete spectrum of in j uries and illness of the service member. (E) Standards for qualifications and training of medical evaluation board personnel, including physicians, case Deadlin e .Po li cy . 10USC 10 7 1 no t e.
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