Improving Veteran Access to Care Act

Improving Veteran Access to Care Act

This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish an integrated project team to improve the process for scheduling VA health care appointments. Among other objectives, the team must (1) develop or continue the development of a scheduling system and platform that enables personnel and patients of the VA to view available appointments for VA care, (2) create a process through which patients can telephonically speak with a scheduler who can assist in determining availability and scheduling, and (3) carry out other functions with respect to health care appointments furnished by the VA.

In carrying out its objectives, the team must consult and coordinate with the deployment schedule and capabilities of the VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization Program.

If the VA determines a required objective or any feature or service in connection with an objective cannot be implemented or incorporated, the VA must report to Congress providing an explanation and setting forth a plan without that objective. 

The VA must also report to Congress on the progress in fulfilling the team’s objectives under the bill.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 607 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 607

To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish an integrated 
  project team to improve the process for scheduling appointments for 
  health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 18, 2025

Ms. Hassan (for herself and Mr. Boozman) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish an integrated 
  project team to improve the process for scheduling appointments for 
  health care from 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 ``Improving Veteran Access to Care 
Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTEGRATED PROJECT TEAM OF DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE APPOINTMENT 
              SCHEDULING.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, through the 
Veterans Health Administration and the Office of Information and 
Technology of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or any successor 
offices or administrations of similar function, shall establish an 
integrated project team to improve the process for scheduling 
appointments for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
    (b) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to ensure the 
Department of Veterans Affairs delivers to patients and employees of 
the Department in a timely manner the scheduling capabilities developed 
by the integrated project team established under subsection (a) to 
immediately improve delivery of care, access to care, customer 
experience and service, and efficiency with respect to the delivery of 
care.
    (c) Objectives.--The objectives of the integrated project team 
established under subsection (a) are the following:
            (1) To develop or continue the development of a scheduling 
        system that enables both personnel and patients of the 
        Department of Veterans Affairs to view available appointments 
        for all care furnished by the Department, including--
                    (A) available appointments for all providers of the 
                Department;
                    (B) available appointments at all clinics, 
                hospitals, and other health care facilities of the 
                Department; and
                    (C) available appointments at all offices providing 
                patient care within the health care system of the 
                Department, including primary care and all forms of 
                specialty care.
            (2) To develop or continue the development of a self-
        service scheduling platform, available for use by all patients 
        of the Department, which shall--
                    (A) enable such patients to view available 
                appointments and fully schedule appointments for all 
                care furnished by the Department, including--
                            (i) appointments for all providers of the 
                        Department;
                            (ii) appointments at all clinics, 
                        hospitals, and other health care facilities of 
                        the Department; and
                            (iii) appointments at all offices providing 
                        patient care within the health care system of 
                        the Department, including primary care and all 
                        forms of specialty care;
                    (B) if a referral is required for an appointment, 
                provide a method for the patient to request a referral 
                and subsequently book an appointment if the referral is 
                approved; and
                    (C) provide such patients with the ability to 
                cancel or reschedule appointments.
            (3) To create a process through which all patients of the 
        Department can telephonically speak with a scheduler who can 
        assist the patient to determine appointment availability and 
        can fully schedule appointments on behalf of the patient for 
        all care furnished by the Department, including--
                    (A) appointments for all providers of the 
                Department;
                    (B) appointments at all clinics, hospitals, and 
                other health care facilities of the Department; and
                    (C) appointments at all offices providing patient 
                care within the health care system of the Department, 
                including primary care and all forms of specialty care.
            (4) To carry out such other functions, oversight, metric 
        development and tracking, change management, cross-Department 
        coordination, and other related matters as the Secretary 
        determines appropriate as it relates to scheduling tools, 
        functions, and operations with respect to health care 
        appointments furnished by the Department.
    (d) Coordination With Electronic Health Record Modernization 
Program.--
            (1) In general.--The integrated project team established 
        under subsection (a) shall carry out the objectives under 
        subsection (c) in consultation and coordination with the 
        deployment schedule and capabilities of the Electronic Health 
        Record Modernization Program of the Department of Veterans 
        Affairs to ensure a smooth transition to using the tools and 
        features, where relevant and appropriate, that may be created 
        pursuant to this section, along with the features in the 
        Electronic Health Record Modernization Program.
            (2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this subsection shall 
        be construed to require the integrated project team established 
        under subsection (a), the Veterans Health Administration, or 
        the Office of Information and Technology of the Department to 
        defer or delay the deployment of scheduling capabilities 
        required by this section because of future potential planned 
        capabilities of the Electronic Health Record Modernization 
        Program.
    (e) Deadlines.--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans 
        Affairs, through the Veterans Health Administration and the 
        Office of Information and Technology of the Department of 
        Veterans Affairs, or any successor office, shall fully 
        establish the integrated project team under subsection (a).
            (2) Completion of objectives.--Not later than one year 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, the integrated 
        project team established under subsection (a) shall complete 
        the objectives under subsection (c).
    (f) Report on Objectives.--If the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
determines that an objective under subsection (c), or any feature or 
service in connection with that objective, cannot be implemented or 
otherwise incorporated into a final product, the Secretary shall, 
within 45 days of that determination, submit to the appropriate 
committees of Congress a report--
            (1) detailing that objective, feature, or service and 
        providing an explanation as to why that objective, feature, or 
        service cannot be implemented or incorporated, as the case may 
        be; and
            (2) setting forth a plan for implementing this section 
        without that objective, feature, or service.
    (g) Implementation Reports.--Not later than each of one year and 
two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 
a report on the progress of the Secretary in fulfilling the 
requirements of this section, including--
            (1) costs incurred to implement such requirements as of the 
        date of the report;
            (2) the expected costs to complete implementation of such 
        requirements (including costs for management and technology);
            (3) the schedule for deployment of any capabilities 
        developed by the integrated project team established under 
        subsection (a); and
            (4) goals and metrics achieved, challenges, and lessons 
        learned.
    (h) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to preclude or impede the ability of a veteran to contact or 
schedule an appointment directly with a facility or provider through a 
non-online scheduling process, should the veteran choose to do so.
    (i) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
        ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the Committee on 
        Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' 
        Affairs of the House of Representatives.
            (2) Fully schedule.--The term ``fully schedule'', with 
        respect to booking an appointment, means that the appointment 
        booking is completed, rather than simply requested.
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