II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 113 

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

to increase the use of medical scribes to maximize the efficiency of 

physicians at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 12, 2017 

Mr. HELLER (for himself and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 

a pilot program to increase the use of medical scribes 

to maximize the efficiency of physicians at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Maximizing Efficiency 

5 and Improving Access to Providers at the Department of 

6 Veterans Affairs Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON INCREASING THE USE OF MED2 ICAL SCRIBES TO MAXIMIZE THE EFFICIENCY 

3 OF PHYSICIANS AT MEDICAL FACILITIES OF 

4 THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Commencing not later than 120 

6 days after the date of the enactment of the Act, the Sec7 retary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a pilot program 

8 to increase the use of medical scribes to maximize the effi9 ciency of physicians at medical facilities of the Depart10 ment of Veterans Affairs. 

11 (b) DURATION.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

12 pilot program during the 18-month period beginning on 

13 the date of the commencement of the pilot program. 

14 (c) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall carry out the 

15 pilot program at not fewer than five medical facilities of 

16 the Department— 

17 (1) at which the Secretary has determined there 

18 is a high volume of patients; or 

19 (2) that are located in rural areas and at which 

20 the Secretary has determined there is a shortage of 

21 physicians and each physician has a high caseload. 

22 (d) CONTRACTS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the pilot 

24 program, the Secretary shall enter into a contract 

25 with one or more appropriate nongovernmental enti26 ties described in paragraph (2). 


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1 (2) APPROPRIATE NONGOVERNMENTAL ENTI2 TIES DESCRIBED.—An appropriate nongovernmental 

3 entity described in this paragraph is an entity that 

4 trains and employs professional medical scribes who 

5 specialize in the collection of medical data and data 

6 entry into electronic health records. 

7 (e) COLLECTION OF DATA.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall collect 

9 data on the pilot program to determine the effective10 ness of the pilot program in increasing the efficiency 

11 of physicians at medical facilities of the Department. 

12 (2) ELEMENTS.—The data collected under 

13 paragraph (1) shall include the following with re14 spect to each medical facility participating in the 

15 pilot program: 

16 (A) The average wait time for a veteran to 

17 receive care from a physician at such medical 

18 facility before implementation of the pilot pro19 gram. 

20 (B) The average wait time for a veteran to 

21 receive care from such a physician after imple22 mentation of the pilot program. 

23 (C) The average number of patients that 

24 such a physician is able to see on a daily basis 

25 before implementation of the pilot program. 


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1 (D) The average number of patients that 

2 such a physician is able to see on a daily basis 

3 after implementation of the pilot program. 

4 (E) The average amount of time such a 

5 physician spends on documentation on a daily 

6 basis before implementation of the pilot pro7 gram. 

8 (F) The average amount of time such a 

9 physician spends on documentation on a daily 

10 basis after implementation of the pilot program. 

11 (G) The satisfaction and retention scores 

12 of each such physician before implementation of 

13 the pilot program. 

14 (H) The satisfaction and retention scores 

15 of each such physician after implementation of 

16 the pilot program. 

17 (I) The patient satisfaction scores for each 

18 such physician before implementation of the 

19 pilot program. 

20 (J) The patient satisfaction scores for each 

21 such physician after implementation of the pilot 

22 program. 

23 (K) The patient satisfaction scores for 

24 their health care experience before implementa25 tion of the pilot program. 


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1 (L) The patient satisfaction scores for 

2 their health care experience after implementa3 tion of the pilot program. 

4 (f) REPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

6 after the commencement of the pilot program, and 

7 not less frequently than once every 180 days there8 after for the duration of the pilot program, the Sec9 retary shall submit to Congress a report on the pilot 

10 program. 

11 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report required by para12 graph (1) shall include the following: 

13 (A) The number of medical facilities of the 

14 Department that are participating in the pilot 

15 program. 

16 (B) With respect to each such medical fa17 cility, an assessment of the effects that partici18 pation in the pilot program has had on the fol19 lowing: 

20 (i) Maximizing the efficiency of physi21 cians at such medical facility. 

22 (ii) Reducing average wait times for 

23 appointments. 

24 (iii) Improving access of patients to 

25 electronic medical records. 


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1 (iv) Mitigating physician shortages by 

2 increasing the productivity of physicians. 

3 (C) All data collected under subsection (e). 

4 (D) Such recommendations as the Sec5 retary may have with respect to the extension 

6 or expansion of the pilot program. 

7 (g) MEDICAL SCRIBE DEFINED.—In this section, the 

8 term ‘‘medical scribe’’ means a member of the medical 

9 team hired and trained specifically and exclusively to per10 form documentation in an electronic health record to 

11 maximize the productivity of a physician. 

Æ 


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