Veterans Improved Access to Care Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3027 To amend the VA MISSION Act of 2018 to expand reporting on hiring in the Veterans Health Administration, and to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to expedite the onboarding process for new medical providers of the Veterans Health Administration, to reduce the duration of the hiring process for such medical providers, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 7, 2021 Mr. CROW (for himself and Mr. MEIJER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend the VA MISSION Act of 2018 to expand report- ing on hiring in the Veterans Health Administration, and to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to expedite the onboarding process for new medical providers of the Veterans Health Admin- istration, 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 00:56 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3027.IH H3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3027 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans Improved Ac- 2 cess to Care Act of 2021’’. 3 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF QUARTERLY UPDATE OF INFORMA- 4 TION ON STAFFING AND VACANCIES AT FA- 5 CILITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET- 6 ERANS AFFAIRS TO INCLUDE INFORMATION 7 ON DURATION OF HIRING PROCESS. 8 (a) QUARTERLY UPDATE.—Subsection (a)(1) of sec- 9 tion 505 of the VA MISSION Act of 2018 (Public Law 10 115–182; 38 U.S.C. 301 note) is amended by adding at 11 the end 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 to Care 15 Act of 2021, 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 19 of 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 00:56 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3027.IH H3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3027 IH ‘‘(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 dur- 4 ing 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 16 period at the end the following: ‘‘and to improve the on- 17 board timeline for facilities for which the duration of the 18 onboarding process exceeds the metrics laid out in the 19 Time to Hire Model of the Veterans Health Administra- 20 tion, or successor model’’. 21 SEC. 3. PILOT PROGRAM ON EXPEDITING THE DEPART- 22 MENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS PROCESS FOR 23 ONBOARDING NEW MEDICAL PROVIDERS. 24 (a) PILOT PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3027.IH H3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3027 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec- 2 retary of Veterans Affairs shall implement a pilot 3 program to assess the feasibility and advisability of 4 expediting the process of the Veterans Health Ad- 5 ministration for onboarding new medical providers. 6 (2) GOAL FOR PROGRAM.—Under the pilot pro- 7 gram, the Secretary shall seek to reduce the length 8 of time it takes to onboard medical providers to no 9 more than 60 days. 10 (3) TERMINATION.—The pilot program shall 11 terminate two years after implementation. The Sec- 12 retary may extend the pilot program for two addi- 13 tional years if the Secretary submits to Congress 14 written notification not later than 30 days before the 15 beginning of such extension. 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 00:56 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3027.IH H3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3027 IH (3) POPULATION DENSITY.—Of the medical fa- 1 cilities selected under paragraph (1), at least three 2 facilities shall be selected in areas with fewer than 3 100,000 people. 4 (4) PRIORITY.—In selecting medical facilities 5 under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give pri- 6 ority to medical facilities facing hiring shortages of 7 licensed independent medical providers. 8 (c) INTERIM BRIEFINGS; FINAL REPORT.—The Sec- 9 retary shall submit to Congress— 10 (1) a briefing at the end of each year of the 11 pilot program; and 12 (2) a report at the termination of the pilot pro- 13 gram. 14 (d) ONBOARDING PROCESS DEFINED.—In this sec- 15 tion, the term ‘‘onboarding process’’ means the process of 16 bringing on a medical provider applicant after the medical 17 provider is offered a tentative position, including— 18 (1) certification of credentials; 19 (2) background investigation; 20 (3) assessment of health status; and 21 (4) other actions the Secretary determines are 22 necessary for starting employment. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3027.IH H3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3027 IH SEC. 4. STRATEGY TO REDUCE DURATION OF HIRING 1 PROCESS OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AF- 2 FAIRS FOR LICENSED PROFESSIONAL MED- 3 ICAL PROVIDERS. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet- 6 erans Affairs shall submit to Congress a strategy to reduce 7 the duration of the hiring process of the Department of 8 Veterans Affairs for licensed professional medical pro- 9 viders by half. 10 (b) EXPEDITED CERTIFICATION.—The strategy sub- 11 mitted under subsection (a) shall describe how the process 12 of the Department to certify the credentials of licensed 13 professional medical providers may be expedited. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:56 Jun 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3027.IH H3027 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS