<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><BillSummaries>
    <item congress="119" measure-type="s" measure-number="607" measure-id="id119s607" originChamber="SENATE" orig-publish-date="2025-02-18" update-date="2025-05-09">
        <title>Improving Veteran Access to Care Act</title>
        <summary summary-id="id119s607v00" currentChamber="SENATE" update-date="2025-05-09">
            <action-date>2025-02-18</action-date>
            <action-desc>Introduced in Senate</action-desc>
            <summary-text><![CDATA[<p><strong>Improving Veteran Access to Care Act</strong></p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.&nbsp;</p><p>The VA must also report to Congress on the progress in fulfilling the team’s objectives under the bill.</p>]]></summary-text>
        </summary>
    </item>
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        <dc:language>EN</dc:language>
        <dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
        <dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
        <dc:description>This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.</dc:description>
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</BillSummaries>
