I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4642 
To amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 
to include in the Veterans Choice Program all veterans enrolled in the 
patient enrollment system of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 14, 2017 
Mr. TIPTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability 
Act of 2014 to include in the Veterans Choice Program 
all veterans enrolled in the patient enrollment system 
of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Improved Ac-
cess and Care Act of 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF VETERANS CHOICE PROGRAM TO 
INCLUDE ALL ENROLLED VETERANS. 
Section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Ac-
countability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–146; 38 U.S.C. 
1701 note) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b), by amending paragraph 
(2) to read as follows: 
‘‘(2) the veteran elects to receive hospital care 
or medical services under this section.’’; 
(2) in subsection (c)(1)— 
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
(A), by striking ‘‘In the case of an eligible vet-
eran described in subsection (b)(2)(A), the Sec-
retary shall, at the election of the eligible vet-
eran’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary shall, at 
the election of an eligible veteran’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘provide the veteran’’ 
and inserting ‘‘provide the eligible vet-
eran’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘described in such 
subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘of the Veterans 
Health Administration’’; 
(3) in subsection (g), by striking paragraph (3); 
and 
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(4) in subsection (q)(2)(A), by striking ‘‘, 
disaggregated by’’ and all that follows through ‘‘sub-
section (b)(2)(D)’’. 
SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM ON EXPEDITING THE DEPART-
MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROCESS FOR 
ONBOARDING NEW MEDICAL PROVIDERS. 
(a) PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a pilot program to as-
sess the feasibility and advisability of expediting the proc-
ess of the Veterans Health Administration for onboarding 
new medical providers. Under the pilot program, the Sec-
retary shall seek to reduce the length of time it takes to 
onboard medical providers to no more than 60 days. 
(b) LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall select medical 
facilities at which to carry out the pilot program. In select-
ing such facilities, the Secretary shall give priority to med-
ical facilities facing hiring shortages of licensed inde-
pendent medical providers. 
(c) ONBOARDING PROCESS DEFINED.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘onboarding process’’ means the process of 
bringing on a medical provider applicant after the medical 
provider is offered a tentative position, including certifi-
cation of credentialing, background investigation, assess-
ment of health status, and such other actions are nec-
essary for starting employment. 
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SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO REDUCE DURATION OF HIRING 
PROCESS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF-
FAIRS FOR LICENSED PROFESSIONAL MED-
ICAL PROVIDERS. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
submit to Congress a strategy to reduce the duration of 
the hiring process of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
for licensed professional medical providers by half. Such 
strategy shall describe how the overall certification of cre-
dentials process for licensed professional medical providers 
can be expedited. 
SEC. 5. IMPROVING ACCOUNTABILITY WITHIN VETERANS 
HEALTH ADMINISTRATION BY REQUIRING 
REPORTING OF MAJOR ADVERSE ACTIONS 
TAKEN TO NATIONAL PRACTITIONER DATA 
BANK AND STATE LICENSING BOARDS. 
Section 7461 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(f) Whenever the Under Secretary for Health (or an 
official designated by the Under Secretary) brings charges 
based on conduct or performance against a section 
7401(1) employee and as a result of those charges a major 
adverse action is taken against the employee, the Under 
Secretary shall, not later than 30 days after the date on 
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which such major adverse action is carried out, transmit 
to the National Practitioner Data Bank and the applicable 
State licensing board the name of the employee, a descrip-
tion of the major adverse action, and a description of the 
reason for the major adverse action.’’. 
Æ 
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