II 

Calendar No. 412 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 450 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program 

to expedite the onboarding process for new medical providers of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs, to reduce the duration of the hiring 

process for such medical providers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 12, 2019 

Mr. GARDNER (for himself, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

FEBRUARY 5, 2020 

Reported by Mr. MORAN, with an amendment and an amendment to the title 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a pilot program to expedite the onboarding process for 

new medical providers of the Department of Veterans 

Affairs, to reduce the duration of the hiring process 

for such medical providers, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Improved Ac3 cess and Care Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON EXPEDITING THE DEPART5 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROCESS FOR 

6 ONBOARDING NEW MEDICAL PROVIDERS. 

7 (a) PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 

9 Affairs shall carry out a pilot program to assess the 

10 feasibility and advisability of expediting the process 

11 of the Veterans Health Administration for onboard12 ing new medical providers. 

13 (2) GOAL FOR PROGRAM.—Under the pilot pro14 gram, the Secretary shall seek to reduce the length 

15 of time it takes to onboard medical providers to no 

16 more than 60 days. 

17 (b) LOCATIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall select 

19 not fewer than ten medical facilities of the Depart20 ment of Veterans Affairs at which to carry out the 

21 pilot program. 

22 (2) REGIONAL DIVERSITY.—The medical facili23 ties selected under paragraph (1) shall be located in 

24 regionally diverse areas, as determined by the Sec25 retary. 


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1 (3) PRIORITY.—In selecting medical facilities 

2 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give pri3 ority to medical facilities facing hiring shortages of 

4 licensed independent medical providers. 

5 (c) ONBOARDING PROCESS DEFINED.—In this sec6 tion, the term ‘‘onboarding process’’ means the process of 

7 bringing on a medical provider applicant after the medical 

8 provider is offered a tentative position, including certifi9 cation of credentialing, background investigation, assess10 ment of health status, and such other actions as are nec11 essary for starting employment. 

12 SEC. 3. STRATEGY TO REDUCE DURATION OF HIRING 

13 PROCESS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF14 FAIRS FOR LICENSED PROFESSIONAL MED15 ICAL PROVIDERS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet18 erans Affairs shall submit to Congress a strategy to reduce 

19 the duration of the hiring process of the Department of 

20 Veterans Affairs for licensed professional medical pro21 viders by half. 

22 (b) EXPEDITED CERTIFICATION.—The strategy sub23 mitted under subsection (a) shall describe how the overall 

24 certification of credentials process of the Department for 

25 licensed professional medical providers can be expedited. 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Improved Ac3 cess and Care Act of 2020’’. 

4 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF QUARTERLY UPDATE OF INFORMA5 TION ON STAFFING AND VACANCIES AT FA6 CILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

7 AFFAIRS TO INCLUDE INFORMATION ON DU8 RATION OF HIRING PROCESS. 

9 (a) QUARTERLY UPDATE.—Subsection (a)(1) of sec10 tion 505 of the VA MISSION Act of 2018 (Public Law 115– 

11 182; 38 U.S.C. 301 note) is amended by adding at the end 

12 the following new subparagraph: 

13 ‘‘(E) Beginning with any update under 

14 paragraph (3) on or after the date of the enact15 ment of the Veterans Improved Access and Care 

16 Act of 2020, the following: 

17 ‘‘(i) For employees appointed under 

18 paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 7401 of 

19 title 38, United States Code, the number of 

20 employees for which the duration of the 

21 process from validation of vacancy to re22 ceipt of official offer and notification of ac23 tual start date exceeds the metrics laid out 

24 in the Time to Hire Model of the Veterans 

25 Health Administration, or successor model. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The percentage of employees who 

2 are described in clause (i) compared to all 

3 employees appointed under paragraphs (1) 

4 and (3) of section 7401 of such title during 

5 the same period. 

6 ‘‘(iii) The average number of days po7 tential hires or new hires appointed under 

8 paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 7401 of 

9 such title spent in each phase of the Time 

10 to Hire Model, or successor model.’’. 

11 (b) REDUCTION IN FREQUENCY OF INSPECTOR GEN12 ERAL REVIEWS.—Subsection (a)(5) of such section is 

13 amended by striking ‘‘a semi-annual basis’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘an annual basis’’. 

15 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Subsection (b) of such section 

16 is amended, in the first sentence, by adding before the pe17 riod at the end the following: ‘‘and to improve the onboard 

18 timeline for facilities for which the duration of the 

19 onboarding process exceeds the metrics laid out in the Time 

20 to Hire Model of the Veterans Health Administration, or 

21 successor model’’. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the 

VA MISSION Act of 2018 to expand the quarterly update of information on staffing and vacancies at facilities 

of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other 

purposes.’’. 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 412 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 450 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 

ical providers, and for other purposes. the duration of the hiring process for such medthe Department of Veterans Affairs, to reduce onboarding process for new medical providers of carry out a pilot program to expedite the 

FEBRUARY 5, 2020 

Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the 

title 


pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS