Department of Veterans Affairs Provider Accountability Act

Bill: 116-s-221
Sponsor: Sen. Gardner, Cory [R-CO]
Introduced: 2019-01-24 in the Senate
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Subjects: Department of Veterans Affairs
Employee performance
Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
Government information and archives
Health care quality
Health information and medical records
Health personnel
Licensing and registrations
Medical ethics
Personnel records
Veterans' medical care

Summary:
action_date: 2019-01-24
text: 

Department of Veterans Affairs Provider Accountability Act

 
The bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to transmit specified information to the National Practitioner Data Bank and the applicable state licensing board when the VA brings a major adverse action against certain appointed VA medical employees. Specifically, the VA must transmit the employee's name and the description of and reason for the major adverse action.
 
The VA may not enter into a settlement agreement regarding a claim by a VA employee under which it would be required to conceal a serious medical error or purge a negative record from an employee's personnel file. Such provision shall not apply to a negative record if the VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection and the Office of Special Counsel jointly certify that the negative record is not legitimate.

action_date: 2019-12-19
text: 

Department of Veterans Affairs Provider Accountability Act

 
The bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to transmit specified information to the National Practitioner Data Bank and the applicable state licensing board when the VA brings a covered major adverse action against certain appointed VA medical employees. A 
covered major adverse action
 is an action originating from circumstances in which the behavior of the employee so substantially failed to meet clinical practice standards that it raised reasonable concern for the safety of patients. 
 
The bill requires the VA to transmit the employee's name and the description of and reason for the covered major adverse action. The VA must also update its credentialing system with a record of covered major adverse actions taken and an indication that information was transmitted as required.
 
The VA shall enroll certain appointed VA medical employees into a continuous query of their record within the National Practitioner Data Bank and shall implement a mechanism for maintaining and updating the information collected through such query to facilitate the sharing of information between Veterans Integrated Service Networks.
 
The VA may not enter into a settlement agreement relating to an adverse action by certain appointed VA medical employees under which it would be required to conceal a serious medical error or lapse in generally accepted standards of clinical practice. Such provision shall not apply to a negative record if the VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection and the Office of Special Counsel jointly certify that the negative record is not legitimate.
 
The bill requires the VA to provide mandatory training to all health staff who handle hiring, privileging, and credentialing, regarding all policies of the VA on credentialing, privileging, and when and how to report adverse actions to the relevant entities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2020-01-14
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
action_date: 2019-12-23
text: Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2019-12-23
text: Received in the House.
action_date: 2019-12-23
text: Message on Senate action sent to the House.
action_date: 2019-12-19
text: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2019-12-19
text: Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2019-12-19
text: Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent. (consideration: CR S7229-7230)
action_date: 2019-12-19
text: Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2019-12-19
text: Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.
action_date: 2019-05-22
text: Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.
action_date: 2019-01-24
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
action_date: 2019-01-24
text: Introduced in Senate