12 2 STA T .48 2 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 181 —J A N .28 , 2008 me m b e rsund er thi sse c ti o n w hen th a t care is readi ly a v ailable at that D e p artment f acility and on a space - available basis .(2)REGULATIONS . —T he S ecretary of V eterans A ffairs shall prescribe in re g ulations the medical care that may be available to family members under this subsection at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. SEC.1673 . IMPROV EME NT O F ME D IC AL TRAC K IN G S Y STEM FOR MEM -B ERSOFT H E ARMED FORCES DEPLOYED OVERSEAS. (a) PR OTO C OL F OR ASSESS M ENT OF C OGNITI V E F UNCTIONING.— ( 1 ) PROTOCOL RE Q UIRE D .—Subsection (b) of section 1 074 f of title 10 ,U nited States Code, is amended— (A) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end the following new subparagraph
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‘(C) An assessment of post-traumatic stress disorder. ’ ’
and ( B ) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ‘‘( 3 )(A) The Secretary shall establish for purposes of subpara- graphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) a protocol for the predeployment assessment and documentation of the cognitive (including memory) functioning of a member who is deployed outside the United States in order to facilitate the assessment of the postdeployment cognitive (including memory) functioning of the member. ‘‘(B) The protocol under subparagraph (A) shall include appro- priate mechanisms to permit the differential diagnosis of traumatic brain in j ury in members returning from deployment in a combat z one.’’. (2) PILOT P RO J ECTS.—(A) I n developing the protocol re q uired by paragraph (3) of section 1074f(b) of title 10, United States Code (as amended by paragraph (1) of this subsection), for purposes of assessments for traumatic brain injury, the Secretary of Defense shall conduct up to three pilot projects to evaluate various mechanisms for use in the protocol for such purposes. O ne of the mechanisms to be so evaluated shall be a computer-based assessment tool which shall, at a minimum, include the following: (i) Administration of computer-based neurocognitive assessment. (ii) Pre-deployment assessments to establish a neurocognitive baseline for members of the Armed Forces for future treatment. (B) N ot later than 6 0 days after the completion of the pilot projects conducted under this paragraph, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the pilot projects. The report shall include— (i) a description of the pilot projects so conducted; (ii) an assessment of the results of each such pilot project; and (iii) a description of any mechanisms evaluated under each such pilot project that will be incorporated into the protocol. (C) Not later than 1 8 0 days after completion of the pilot projects conducted under this paragraph, the Secretary shall establish a means for implementing any mechanism evaluated under such a pilot project that is selected for incorporation in the protocol. Deadlin e . Deadline. R e ports . 10USC 10 74f note. P roto c ols.
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