Veterans Improved Access and Care Act of 2019

II Calendar No. 412 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 450 To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to expedite the onboarding process for new medical providers of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to reduce the duration of the hiring process for such medical providers, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 12, 2019 Mr. GARDNER (for himself, Mr. PETERS, and Mr. DAINES) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Vet- erans’ Affairs FEBRUARY 5, 2020 Reported by Mr. MORAN, with an amendment and an amendment to the title [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to expedite the onboarding process for new medical providers of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to reduce the duration of the hiring process for such medical providers, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Feb 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S450.RS S450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 450 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Improved Ac- 2 cess and Care Act of 2019’’. 3 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON EXPEDITING THE DEPART- 4 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROCESS FOR 5 ONBOARDING NEW MEDICAL PROVIDERS. 6 (a) PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Veterans 8 Affairs shall carry out a pilot program to assess the 9 feasibility and advisability of expediting the process 10 of the Veterans Health Administration for onboard- 11 ing new medical providers. 12 (2) GOAL FOR PROGRAM.—Under the pilot pro- 13 gram, the Secretary shall seek to reduce the length 14 of time it takes to onboard medical providers to no 15 more than 60 days. 16 (b) LOCATIONS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall select 18 not fewer than ten medical facilities of the Depart- 19 ment of Veterans Affairs at which to carry out the 20 pilot program. 21 (2) REGIONAL DIVERSITY.—The medical facili- 22 ties selected under paragraph (1) shall be located in 23 regionally diverse areas, as determined by the Sec- 24 retary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Feb 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S450.RS S450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 450 RS (3) PRIORITY.—In selecting medical facilities 1 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give pri- 2 ority to medical facilities facing hiring shortages of 3 licensed independent medical providers. 4 (c) ONBOARDING PROCESS DEFINED.—In this sec- 5 tion, the term ‘‘onboarding process’’ means the process of 6 bringing on a medical provider applicant after the medical 7 provider is offered a tentative position, including certifi- 8 cation of credentialing, background investigation, assess- 9 ment of health status, and such other actions as are nec- 10 essary for starting employment. 11 SEC. 3. STRATEGY TO REDUCE DURATION OF HIRING 12 PROCESS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 13 FAIRS FOR LICENSED PROFESSIONAL MED- 14 ICAL PROVIDERS. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 16 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 17 erans Affairs shall submit to Congress a strategy to reduce 18 the duration of the hiring process of the Department of 19 Veterans Affairs for licensed professional medical pro- 20 viders by half. 21 (b) EXPEDITED CERTIFICATION.—The strategy sub- 22 mitted under subsection (a) shall describe how the overall 23 certification of credentials process of the Department for 24 licensed professional medical providers can be expedited. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Feb 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S450.RS S450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 450 RS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Improved Ac- 2 cess and Care Act of 2020’’. 3 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF QUARTERLY UPDATE OF INFORMA- 4 TION ON STAFFING AND VACANCIES AT FA- 5 CILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 6 AFFAIRS TO INCLUDE INFORMATION ON DU- 7 RATION OF HIRING PROCESS. 8 (a) QUARTERLY UPDATE.—Subsection (a)(1) of sec- 9 tion 505 of the VA MISSION Act of 2018 (Public Law 115– 10 182; 38 U.S.C. 301 note) is amended by adding at the end 11 the following new subparagraph: 12 ‘‘(E) Beginning with any update under 13 paragraph (3) on or after the date of the enact- 14 ment of the Veterans Improved Access and Care 15 Act of 2020, the following: 16 ‘‘(i) For employees appointed under 17 paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 7401 of 18 title 38, United States Code, the number of 19 employees for which the duration of the 20 process from validation of vacancy to re- 21 ceipt of official offer and notification of ac- 22 tual start date exceeds the metrics laid out 23 in the Time to Hire Model of the Veterans 24 Health Administration, or successor model. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Feb 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S450.RS S450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 450 RS ‘‘(ii) The percentage of employees who 1 are described in clause (i) compared to all 2 employees appointed under paragraphs (1) 3 and (3) of section 7401 of such title during 4 the same period. 5 ‘‘(iii) The average number of days po- 6 tential hires or new hires appointed under 7 paragraphs (1) and (3) of section 7401 of 8 such title spent in each phase of the Time 9 to Hire Model, or successor model.’’. 10 (b) REDUCTION IN FREQUENCY OF INSPECTOR GEN- 11 ERAL REVIEWS.—Subsection (a)(5) of such section is 12 amended by striking ‘‘a semi-annual basis’’ and inserting 13 ‘‘an annual basis’’. 14 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—Subsection (b) of such section 15 is amended, in the first sentence, by adding before the pe- 16 riod at the end the following: ‘‘and to improve the onboard 17 timeline for facilities for which the duration of the 18 onboarding process exceeds the metrics laid out in the Time 19 to Hire Model of the Veterans Health Administration, or 20 successor model’’. 21 Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend the VA MISSION Act of 2018 to expand the quarterly up- date of information on staffing and vacancies at facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Feb 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S450.RS S450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS Calendar No. 412 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 450 A BILL To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to expedite the onboarding process for new medical providers of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to reduce the duration of the hiring process for such med- ical providers, and for other purposes. FEBRUARY 5, 2020 Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the title VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:44 Feb 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\S450.RS S450 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS