Veteran's Prostate Cancer Treatment and Research Act
This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement programs and resources related to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.
Specifically, the bill requires the VA to establish in its National Surgery Office a national clinical pathway for all stages of prostate cancer that includes specified elements. A clinical pathway is a health care management tool designed around research and evidence-backed practices that provides direction for the clinical care and treatment of a specific episode of a condition or ailment.
The VA must publish the proposed clinical pathway in the Federal Register for public comment. Additionally, the bill requires the VA to publish the established clinical pathway on a public VA website and to update the clinical pathway at least annually.
Under the bill, the VA must submit (1) a plan to establish a comprehensive prostate cancer program, and (2) a plan that provides for continual funding for supporting prostate cancer research through the VA Office of Research and Development. The VA must also establish a program evaluation tool to learn best practices of multidisciplinary disease-based implementation.
Finally, the VA must establish a real-time, actionable, national prostate cancer registry that is accessible to clinicians and researchers.