§ 1637 — Indian Health Care Delivery Demonstration Projects

(1) (A) to test alternative means of delivering health care and services to Indians through facilities; or (B) to use alternative or innovative methods or models of delivering health care services to Indians (including primary care services, contract health services, or any other program or service authorized by this chapter) through convenient care services (as defined in subsection (c)), community health centers, or cooperative agreements or arrangements with other health care providers that share or coordinate the use of facilities, funding, or other resources, or otherwise coordinate or improve the coordination of activities of the Service, Indian tribes, or tribal organizations, with those of the other health care providers. (2) The Secretary, acting through the Service, is authorized to carry out, or to enter into contracts or compacts under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) 2 with Indian tribes or tribal organizations to carry out, health care delivery demonstration projects that— (A) test alternative means of delivering health care and services to Indians through facilities; or (B) otherwise carry out the purposes of this section. (b) The Secretary, in approving projects pursuant to this section— (1) may authorize such contracts for the construction and renovation of hospitals, health centers, health stations, and other facilities to deliver health care services; and (2) is authorized— (A) to waive any leasing prohibition; (B) to permit use and carryover of funds appropriated for the provision of health care services under this chapter (including for the purchase of health benefits coverage, as authorized by section 1642(a) of this title); (C) to permit the use of other available funds, including other Federal funds, funds from third-party collections in accordance with sections 1621e, 1621f, and 1641 of this title, and non-Federal funds contributed by State or local governmental agencies or facilities or private health care providers pursuant to cooperative or other agreements with the Service, 1 or more Indian tribes, or tribal organizations; (D) to permit the use of funds or property donated or otherwise provided from any source for project purposes; (E) to provide for the reversion of donated real or personal property to the donor; and (F) to permit the use of Service funds to match other funds, including Federal funds. (1) In this subsection, the term “convenient care service” means any primary health care service, such as urgent care services, nonemergent care services, prevention services and screenings, and any service authorized by section 1621b of this title or 1621d(d) of this title, that is offered— (A) at an alternative setting; or (B) during hours other than regular working hours. (A) The Secretary may approve under this section demonstration projects that meet the following criteria: (i) There is a need for a new facility or program, such as a program for convenient care services, or an improvement in, increased efficiency at, or reorientation of an existing facility or program. (ii) A significant number of Indians, including Indians with low health status, will be served by the project. (iii) The project has the potential to deliver services in an efficient and effective manner. (iv) The project is economically viable. (v) For projects carried out by an Indian tribe or tribal organization, the Indian tribe or tribal organization has the administrative and financial capability to administer the project. (vi) The project is integrated with providers of related health or social services (including State and local health care agencies or other health care providers) and is coordinated with, and avoids duplication of, existing services in order to expand the availability of services. (B) In approving demonstration projects under this paragraph, the Secretary shall give priority to demonstration projects, to the extent the projects meet the criteria described in subparagraph (A), located in any of the following Service units: (i) Cass Lake, Minnesota. (ii) Mescalero, New Mexico. (iii) Owyhee and Elko, Nevada. (iv) Schurz, Nevada. (v) Ft. Yuma, California. (A) methods to deliver health care services within the Service area (or a portion of, or facility within, the Service area) as described in the application or request, including medical, dental, pharmaceutical, nursing, clinical laboratory, contract health services, convenient care services, community health centers, or any other health care services delivery models designed to improve access to, or efficiency or quality of, the health care, health promotion, or disease prevention services and programs under this chapter. (B) In addition to projects described in paragraph (2), in any fiscal year, the Secretary is authorized under this paragraph to approve not more than 10 applications for health care delivery demonstration projects that meet the criteria described in subparagraph (C). (C) The Secretary shall approve under subparagraph (B) demonstration projects that meet all of the following criteria: (i) The criteria set forth in paragraph (2)(A). (ii) There is a lack of access to health care services at existing health care facilities, which may be due to limited hours of operation at those facilities or other factors. (iii) The project— (I) expands the availability of services; or (II) reduces— (aa) the burden on Contract Health Services; or (bb) the need for emergency room visits. (d) On receipt of an application or request from an Indian tribe, a consortium of Indian tribes, or a tribal organization, the Secretary shall provide such technical and other assistance as may be necessary to enable applicants to comply with this section, including information regarding the Service unit budget and available funding for carrying out the proposed demonstration project. (e) Subject to section 1680c of this title, the authority to provide services to persons otherwise ineligible for the health care benefits of the Service, and the authority to extend hospital privileges in Service facilities to non-Service health practitioners as provided in section 1680c of this title, may be included, subject to the terms of that section, in any demonstration project approved pursuant to this section. (f) For purposes of subsection (c), the Secretary, in evaluating facilities operated under any contract or compact under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.),2 shall use the same criteria that the Secretary uses in evaluating facilities operated directly by the Service. (g) The Secretary shall ensure that the planning, design, construction, renovation, and expansion needs of Service and non-Service facilities that are the subject of a contract or compact under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450 et seq.) 2 for health services are fully and equitably integrated into the implementation of the health care delivery demonstration projects under this section.