II 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4352 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
DECEMBER 7, 2016 
Received 
AN ACT 
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 
a pilot program establishing a patient self-scheduling 
appointment system, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Faster Care for Vet-
erans Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ESTABLISHING A PATIENT SELF- 
SCHEDULING APPOINTMENT SYSTEM. 
(a) PILOT PROGRAM.—Not later than 120 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall commence a pilot program under 
which veterans use an Internet website or mobile applica-
tion to schedule and confirm medical appointments at 
medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 
(b) SELECTION OF LOCATIONS.—The Secretary shall 
select not less than three Veterans Integrated Services 
Networks in which to carry out the pilot program under 
subsection (a). 
(c) CONTRACTS.— 
(1) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary shall seek to 
enter into a contract using competitive procedures 
with one or more contractors to provide the sched-
uling capability described in subsection (a). 
(2) NOTICE OF COMPETITION.—Not later than 
60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
the Secretary shall issue a request for proposals for 
the contract described in paragraph (1). Such re-
quest shall be full and open to any contractor that 
has an existing commercially available, off-the-shelf 
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online patient self-scheduling system that includes 
the capabilities specified in section 3(a). 
(3) SELECTION.—Not later than 120 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall award a contract to one or more contractors 
pursuant to the request for proposals under para-
graph (2). 
(d) DURATION OF PILOT PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by para-
graph (2), the Secretary shall carry out the pilot 
program under subsection (a) for an 18-month pe-
riod. 
(2) EXTENSION.—The Secretary may extend 
the duration of the pilot program under subsection 
(a), and may expand the selection of Veterans Inte-
grated Services Networks under subsection (b), if 
the Secretary determines that the pilot program is 
reducing the wait times of veterans seeking medical 
care and ensuring that more available appointment 
times are filled. 
(e) MOBILE APPLICATION DEFINED.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘‘mobile application’’ means a software pro-
gram that runs on the operating system of a cellular tele-
phone, tablet computer, or similar portable computing de-
vice that transmits data over a wireless connection. 
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SEC. 3. CAPABILITIES OF PATIENT SELF-SCHEDULING AP-
POINTMENT SYSTEM. 
(a) MINIMUM CAPABILITIES.—The Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs shall ensure that the patient self-scheduling 
appointment system used in the pilot program under sec-
tion 2, and any other patient self-scheduling appointment 
system developed or used by the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, includes, at a minimum, the following capabilities: 
(1) Capability to schedule, modify, and cancel 
appointments for primary care, specialty care, and 
mental health. 
(2) Capability to support appointments for the 
provision of health care regardless of whether such 
care is provided in person or through telehealth serv-
ices. 
(3) Capability to view appointment availability 
in real time. 
(4) Capability to make available, in real time, 
appointments that were previously filled but later 
cancelled by other patients. 
(5) Capability to provide prompts or reminders 
to veterans to schedule follow-up appointments. 
(6) Capability to be used 24 hours per day, 7 
days per week. 
(7) Capability to integrate with the Veterans 
Health Information Systems and Technology Archi-
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tecture of the Department, or such successor infor-
mation technology system. 
(b) 
INDEPENDENT
VALIDATION
AND 
VERIFICATION.— 
(1) INDEPENDENT ENTITY.— 
(A) The Secretary shall seek to enter into 
an agreement with an appropriate non-govern-
mental, not-for-profit entity with expertise in 
health information technology to independently 
validate and verify that the patient self-sched-
uling appointment system used in the pilot pro-
gram under section 2, and any other patient 
self-scheduling appointment system developed 
or used by the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
includes the capabilities specified in subsection 
(a). 
(B) Each independent validation and 
verification conducted under subparagraph (A) 
shall be completed as follows: 
(i) With respect to the validation and 
verification of the patient self-scheduling 
appointment system used in the pilot pro-
gram under section 2, by not later than 60 
days after the date on which such pilot 
program commences. 
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(ii) With respect to any other patient 
self-scheduling appointment system devel-
oped or used by the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs, by not later than 60 days 
after the date on which such system is de-
ployed, regardless of whether such deploy-
ment is on a limited basis, but not includ-
ing any deployments for testing purposes. 
(2) GAO EVALUATION.— 
(A) The Comptroller General of the United 
States shall evaluate each validation and 
verification conducted under paragraph (1). 
(B) Not later than 30 days after the date 
on which the Comptroller General completes an 
evaluation under paragraph (1), the Comp-
troller General shall submit to the appropriate 
congressional committees a report on such eval-
uation. 
(C) In this paragraph, the term ‘‘appro-
priate congressional committees’’ means— 
(i) the Committees on Veterans’ Af-
fairs of the House of Representatives and 
the Senate; and 
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(ii) the Committees on Appropriations 
of the House of Representatives and the 
Senate. 
(c) CERTIFICATION.— 
(1) CAPABILITIES INCLUDED.—Not later than 
December 31, 2017, the Secretary shall certify to 
the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the House of 
Representatives and the Senate that the patient self- 
scheduling appointment system used in the pilot pro-
gram under section 2, and any other patient self- 
scheduling appointment system developed or used by 
the Department of Veterans Affairs as of the date 
of the certification, includes the capabilities specified 
in subsection (a). 
(2) NEW SYSTEMS.—If the Secretary develops 
or begins using a new patient self-scheduling ap-
pointment system that is not covered by a certifi-
cation made under paragraph (1), the Secretary 
shall certify to such committees that such new sys-
tem includes the capabilities specified in subsection 
(a) by not later than 30 days after the date on 
which the Secretary determines to replace the pre-
vious patient self-scheduling appointment system. 
(3) 
EFFECT
OF
CAPABILITIES
NOT
IN-
CLUDED.—If the Secretary does not make a timely 
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