Title: Veterans Improved Access and Care Act of 2017
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Veterans Improved Access and Care Act of 2017
This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to provide access to hospital care and medical services in non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities for all veterans who are enrolled in the VA health care system. (Currently, such access is based upon appointment wait times and distance from, or existence of, VA facilities.)
The VA shall: (1) establish a pilot program to expedite the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) process for bringing on a medical provider after such person is offered a tentative VHA position (onboarding), (2) give priority to medical facilities facing hiring shortages of licensed independent medical providers, and (3) submit to Congress a strategy for reducing the length of the medical provider hiring process by half.
The bill requires that certain personal information be transmitted to the National Practitioner Data Bank and the applicable state licensing board whenever a major adverse action based upon performance or conduct is taken against certain VHA health care employees.


[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2168 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2168

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 28, 2017

  Mr. Gardner introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Improved Access and Care 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF VETERANS CHOICE PROGRAM TO INCLUDE ALL ENROLLED 
              VETERANS.

    Section 101 of the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability 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 veteran described 
                in subsection (b)(2)(A), the Secretary shall, at the 
                election of the eligible veteran'' 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 veteran''; and
                            (ii) by striking ``described in such 
                        subsection'' and inserting ``of the Veterans 
                        Health Administration'';
            (3) in subsection (g), by striking paragraph (3); and
            (4) in subsection (q)(2)(A), by striking ``, disaggregated 
        by'' and all that follows through ``subsection (b)(2)(D)''.

SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM ON EXPEDITING THE DEPARTMENT 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 assess the feasibility and 
advisability of expediting the process of the Veterans Health 
Administration for onboarding new medical providers. Under the pilot 
program, the Secretary 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 selecting such facilities, the 
Secretary shall give priority to medical facilities facing hiring 
shortages of licensed independent medical providers.
    (c) Onboarding Process Defined.--In this section, the term 
``onboarding process'' means the process of bringing on a medical 
provider applicant after the medical provider is offered a tentative 
position, including certification of credentialing, background 
investigation, assessment of health status, and such other actions are 
necessary for starting employment.

SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO REDUCE DURATION OF HIRING PROCESS OF DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR LICENSED PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL 
              PROVIDERS.

    Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 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 
credentials 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 subsection:
    ``(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 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 description of the major adverse action, and a 
description of the reason for the major adverse action.''.
                                 <all>