I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3027 

To amend the VA MISSION Act of 2018 to expand reporting on hiring 

in the Veterans Health Administration, and to direct the Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to expedite the onboarding 

process for new medical providers of the Veterans Health Administration, 

to reduce the duration of the hiring process for such medical providers, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2021 

Mr. CROW (for himself and Mr. MEIJER) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the VA MISSION Act of 2018 to expand reporting on hiring in the Veterans Health Administration, 

and to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry 

out a pilot program to expedite the onboarding process 

for new medical providers of the Veterans Health Administration, 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 to Care Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF QUARTERLY UPDATE OF INFORMA5 TION ON STAFFING AND VACANCIES AT FA6 CILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET7 ERANS AFFAIRS TO INCLUDE INFORMATION 

8 ON DURATION OF HIRING PROCESS. 

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

11 115–182; 38 U.S.C. 301 note) is amended by adding at 

12 the end 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 to Care 

16 Act of 2021, 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 

20 of 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 dur5 ing 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 

17 period at the end the following: ‘‘and to improve the on18 board timeline for facilities for which the duration of the 

19 onboarding process exceeds the metrics laid out in the 

20 Time to Hire Model of the Veterans Health Administra21 tion, or successor model’’. 

22 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM ON EXPEDITING THE DEPART23 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROCESS FOR 

24 ONBOARDING NEW MEDICAL PROVIDERS. 

25 (a) PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

2 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec3 retary of Veterans Affairs shall implement a pilot 

4 program to assess the feasibility and advisability of 

5 expediting the process of the Veterans Health Ad6 ministration for onboarding new medical providers. 

7 (2) GOAL FOR PROGRAM.—Under the pilot pro8 gram, the Secretary shall seek to reduce the length 

9 of time it takes to onboard medical providers to no 

10 more than 60 days. 

11 (3) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall 

12 terminate two years after implementation. The Sec13 retary may extend the pilot program for two addi14 tional years if the Secretary submits to Congress 

15 written notification not later than 30 days before the 

16 beginning of such extension. 

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) POPULATION DENSITY.—Of the medical fa2 cilities selected under paragraph (1), at least three 

3 facilities shall be selected in areas with fewer than 

4 100,000 people. 

5 (4) PRIORITY.—In selecting medical facilities 

6 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give pri7 ority to medical facilities facing hiring shortages of 

8 licensed independent medical providers. 

9 (c) INTERIM BRIEFINGS; FINAL REPORT.—The Sec10 retary shall submit to Congress— 

11 (1) a briefing at the end of each year of the 

12 pilot program; and 

13 (2) a report at the termination of the pilot pro14 gram. 

15 (d) ONBOARDING PROCESS DEFINED.—In this sec16 tion, the term ‘‘onboarding process’’ means the process of 

17 bringing on a medical provider applicant after the medical 

18 provider is offered a tentative position, including— 

19 (1) certification of credentials; 

20 (2) background investigation; 

21 (3) assessment of health status; and 

22 (4) other actions the Secretary determines are 

23 necessary for starting employment. 


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1 SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO REDUCE DURATION OF HIRING 

2 PROCESS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF3 FAIRS FOR LICENSED PROFESSIONAL MED4 ICAL PROVIDERS. 

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

6 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet7 erans Affairs shall submit to Congress a strategy to reduce 

8 the duration of the hiring process of the Department of 

9 Veterans Affairs for licensed professional medical pro10 viders by half. 

11 (b) EXPEDITED CERTIFICATION.—The strategy sub12 mitted under subsection (a) shall describe how the process 

13 of the Department to certify the credentials of licensed 

14 professional medical providers may be expedited. 

Æ 


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