Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BOST. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3482) to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish an online program through which an employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs may schedule an appointment for a covered veteran with a non- Department health care provider under the Veterans Community Care Program, and for other purposes, as amended.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 3482.

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 Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act''. SEC. 2. SCHEDULING OF APPOINTMENTS UNDER THE VETERANS COMMUNITY CARE PROGRAM.

(a) Electronic Process.--Subsection (d) of section 3101 of the Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act of 2020 (Public Law 116- 315; 38 U.S.C. 1701 note) is amended to read as follows:

``(d) Electronic Process.--(1) The Secretary shall implement an electronic process through which a scheduler of the Department, using an information technology system, may schedule an appointment for health care furnished by the Department or through the Veterans Community Care Program, under section 1703 of this title, by a non-Department health care provider.

``(2) The electronic process under this subsection shall allow a scheduler, with regards to appointments described in--

``(A) either clause of subparagraph (A) of subsection (a)(1), to view, search, and sort such appointments by type of care, location, and date; and

``(B) clause (ii) of such subparagraph--

``(i) to schedule such an appointment;

``(ii) to provide referral and authorization documents directly to a non-Department provider; and

``(iii) to perform any other function the Secretary determines necessary.

``(3) The Secretary shall ensure that the electronic process allows a scheduler to schedule an appointment for health care furnished by the Secretary through a health care provider of the Department.

``(4) The Secretary shall implement the electronic process through an existing agreement if practicable.

``(5) The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives the following regarding the electronic process:

``(A) Not later than 90 days after the Secretary makes a determination under subparagraph (B)(iii) of paragraph (2), a briefing regarding the functions the Secretary has determined necessary.

``(B) Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act, and semiannually thereafter during the following three years, a report regarding operation of the electronic process during both the semiannual period preceding the date of the report and the cumulative period since the date of the enactment of such Act. Such a report shall include the following for each such period:

``(i) The number of non-Department health care providers that participated in such electronic process, disaggregated by--

``(I) category of hospital care or medical services provided; and

``(II) medical center of the Department;

``(ii) The number of appointments scheduled pursuant to the electronic process, disaggregated by--

``(I) category of hospital care or medical services provided;

``(II) medical center of the Department; and

``(III) month.

``(iii) A comparison of the average wait time for appointments scheduled through the electronic process and through non-electronic methods, disaggregated by medical center of the Department.

``(iv) The rates at which veterans cancelled appointments scheduled through the electronic process.

``(v) The rates at which veterans did not appear for appointments scheduled through the electronic process.''.

(b) Implementation.--

(1) Date.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall implement the electronic process under subsection (d) of section 1703H of such title, as added by this section, not later than two years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

(2) Guidelines.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall establish guidelines. Such guidelines shall include the following:

(A) Procedures for schedulers and other employees of the Department involved in the scheduling of appointments described in such section.

(B) A directive that employees described in subparagraph (A) use the electronic process to the extent practicable.

(C) A directive that employees described in subparagraph (A), when scheduling an appointment for a covered veteran (as such term is used in section 1703 of such title) for health care furnished by the Secretary, inform such covered veteran of available appointments though providers of the Department and through providers under the Veterans Community Care Program when eligible.

(D) Procedures for engaging with non-Department health care providers in specialized cases.

(E) Standards regarding timeliness and accuracy.

(F) Escalation protocols for scheduling failures or delays.

(3) Training.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall implement a mandatory training program for employees described in paragraph (2) regarding the guidelines under paragraph (2).

(4) Evaluation.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall prescribe performance benchmarks and outcome-based metrics for the electronic process under such section, including--

(A) time between a referral and a scheduled appointment;

(B) patient satisfaction; and

(C) the percentage of appointments scheduled exclusively through the electronic process.

(5) Outreach.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall plan and carry out an outreach strategy to encourage non-Department of Veterans Affairs health care providers that participate in the Veterans Community Care Program to participate in the electronic process under such subsection. Such outreach shall--

(A) include contacting each such provider during such 90 days;

(B) include seeking to enter into an agreement with each such provider under which the provider shall participate in the electronic process;

(C) include collaborating with State hospital associations and rural health associations to promote such participation;

(D) focus on providers in specialties or underserved areas, as determined by the Secretary; and

(E) include the publication, on a publicly accessible website of the Department, of information regarding--

(i) details of the electronic process;

(ii) how a provider may elect to participate in the electronic process; and

(iii) a point of contact in the Department regarding the electronic process.

(6) Oversight.--The Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives, with regards to the electronic process under such subsection, the following:

(A) Not later than 30 days after the Secretary establishes guidelines under paragraph (2) of this subsection, a copy of such guidelines.

(B) Not later than 30 days after the Secretary formulates the plan under paragraph (5) of this subsection, a briefing on the outreach strategy under such paragraph.

(C) Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the benchmarks and metrics prescribed under paragraph (4).

(c) Expansion.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a plan to integrate the scheduling of appointments for health care furnished through health care providers of the Department of Veterans Affairs into the electronic process under subsection (d) of section 1703H of such title. Such plan shall include the following elements:

(1) A timeline to implement such plan.

(2) Estimated costs to carry out such plan.

(3) Changes to policies and procedures of the Department the Secretary determines necessary to implement such plan.

(d) Codification.--

(1) In general.--Section 3101 of such Act, as amended by subsection (a), is transferred to subchapter I of chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, inserted after section 1703G, and redesignated as section 1703H.

(2) Conforming amendments.--Section 1703H of such title, as transferred and redesignated by this subsection, is amended--

(A) by striking any heading that is not a section heading or subsection heading and conforming the margins accordingly;

(B) by striking ``of title 38, United States Code'' both places it appears and inserting ``of this title'';

(C) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ``Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary'' and inserting ``The Secretary'';

(D) in subsection (c)--

(i) in paragraph (1), in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ``Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary'' and inserting ``The Secretary''; and

(ii) in paragraph (2), by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B) and inserting ``The Secretary shall require each medical facility of the Department to use the method or tool described in paragraph (1).'';

(E) in the section enumerator, by striking ``sec.'' and inserting ``Sec. ''; and

(F) in the section heading--

(i) by striking ``process and requirements for scheduling appointments for health care from department of veterans affairs and non-department health care.'' and inserting ``scheduling of appointments''; and

(ii) by conforming the typeface and typestyle, including capitalization, to the typeface and typestyle used in the section heading of section 1703G of such title.

(3) Table of sections.--The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting, after the item relating to section 1703G, the following new item: ``1703H. Scheduling of appointments.''. SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF CERTAIN LIMITS ON PAYMENT OF PENSION.

Section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking ``January 31, 2033'' and inserting ``May 31, 2033''.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BOST. 3482, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3482, as amended, offered by my friend and colleague, Representative Tom Barrett of Michigan.

This bill would make much-needed improvements to make community care work better for our veterans. For far too long, the scheduling process has posed structural barriers that delay our veterans from accessing the timely healthcare that they have earned.

Veterans often face administrative red tape that makes getting their care difficult when they are trying to see a provider in their own community. This bill would cut through that bureaucracy by bringing the VA's scheduling into the 21st century.

This bill would authorize the External Provider Scheduling program across every VA medical center. It would equip VA employees with a modernized system to view, search, and sort real-time availability for both VA and non-VA providers. Under this bill, a VA scheduler could book an appointment and send the referral documents electronically without endless phone calls.

This would let veterans across the entire country schedule many of their community care appointments in minutes, instead of waiting days on end.

This bill would also include rigorous performance benchmarks to hold VA accountable for achieving real results to deliver better healthcare. VA would be required to track patron satisfaction and wait times so we can ensure taxpayer resources are making a real impact.

Finally, thanks to an amendment adopted in committee, the costs associated with this legislation are fully offset.

It is our duty to make sure veterans receive timely access to the healthcare they need right in the communities where they live.

I also thank the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs, Concerned Veterans for America, the National Rural Health Association, and The American Legion for their support of this truly bipartisan legislation.

This is a good, commonsense bill, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 3482, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I encourage all Members to support this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source