II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3598 

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish a comprehensive 

standard for timing between referrals and appointments for care from 

the Department of Veterans Affairs and to submit a report with respect 

to that standard, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2024 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida (for himself, Mr. OSSOFF, and Mr. CRUZ) 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 establish 

a comprehensive standard for timing between referrals 

and appointments for care from the Department of Veterans Affairs and to submit a report with respect to 

that standard, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Scheduling for Com5 munity Health and Easy Data to Understand for Legisla6 tors to Evaluate Services Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘SCHED7 ULES Act of 2024’’. 


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•S 3598 IS

1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE STANDARD 

2 FOR TIMING BETWEEN REFERRAL AND AP3 POINTMENT FOR CARE FROM DEPARTMENT 

4 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF STANDARD.— 

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

7 Affairs shall establish a comprehensive standard for 

8 timing between the date on which a referral for care 

9 for a veteran under the laws administered by the 

10 Secretary is entered into the care coordination sys11 tem of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the 

12 date on which an appointment for care for the vet13 eran occurs, whether at a facility of the Department 

14 or through care in the community. 

15 (2) MODIFICATION.—The Secretary may modify 

16 the standard established under paragraph (1) as the 

17 appointment scheduling processes of the Department 

18 for care at a facility of the Department or through 

19 care in the community are updated. 

20 (3) PUBLICATION.—Not later than 30 days be21 fore establishing under paragraph (1) or modifying 

22 under paragraph (2) the comprehensive standard re23 quired under this subsection, the Secretary shall 

24 publish such standard in the Federal Register and 

25 on a publicly available internet website of the De26 partment. 


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•S 3598 IS

1 (b) REPORT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

3 quarterly, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a 

4 report on the number and percentage of referrals 

5 from the Department to facilities of the Department 

6 or providers in the community that meet the stand7 ard under subsection (a). 

8 (2) ELEMENTS.—Each report submitted under 

9 paragraph (1) shall include the following: 

10 (A) The number and percentage of total 

11 referrals from each facility of the Department 

12 that meet, for the quarter covered by the re13 port— 

14 (i) the standard under subsection (a); 

15 (ii) with respect to referrals to a facil16 ity of the Department, the three-business17 day standard for scheduling an appoint18 ment at a facility of the Department; and 

19 (iii) with respect to referrals for care 

20 in the community, the seven-calendar-day 

21 standard for scheduling an appointment 

22 for care in the community. 

23 (B) The number and percentage of refer24 rals from each facility of the Department that 

25 meet each of the standards specified in subVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Jan 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3598.IS S3598

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•S 3598 IS

1 paragraph (A), disaggregated by each of the 

2 five, or more, most in-demand categories of care 

3 provided at such facility (such as mental health, 

4 cardiology, neurology, oncology, etc.). 

5 (C) A list of all medical centers of the De6 partment ranked from best to worst in meeting 

7 the standard under subsection (a), including a 

8 disaggregated list by State. 

9 (3) ANNUALLY INCLUDED INFORMATION.—Not 

10 less frequently than annually, the Secretary shall in11 clude in the report required under paragraph (1)— 

12 (A) aggregated data for the four-quarter 

13 period preceding the date of the report; 

14 (B) a description of steps taken by the De15 partment to improve the timeliness of the provi16 sion of care by the Department and an estimate 

17 of when the Department will be fully compliant 

18 with the standard under subsection (a). 

19 (4) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary 

20 shall make each report required under paragraph (1) 

21 publicly available on a website of the Veterans 

22 Health Administration. 

Æ 


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