[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3041 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3041

     To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that medical 
   professionals employed by the Veterans Health Administration are 
             properly credentialed, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 12, 2019

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that medical 
   professionals employed by the Veterans Health Administration are 
             properly credentialed, 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 ``Veterans Health Administration 
Caregiver Retention and Eligibility Determination Act of 2019'' or the 
``VHA CRED Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) A report prepared by the Comptroller General of the 
        United States in 2019 entitled ``Veterans Health 
        Administration: Greater Focus on Credentialing Needed to 
        Prevent Disqualified Providers from Delivering Patient Care'' 
        (GAO-19-6) (in this subsection referred to as the ``Report'') 
        troublingly found that facilities of the Veterans Health 
        Administration lack adequate safeguards to ensure that veterans 
        are not treated by health care providers whose licenses have 
        been revoked or surrendered for cause.
            (2) The Report reviewed 57 health care providers at 
        facilities of the Veterans Health Administration across the 
        United States who had an issue reported on the National 
        Practitioner Data Bank, such as prior instances of poor patient 
        care, disregard for public safety, substance misuse, or 
        unprofessional conduct.
            (3) Although the Veterans Health Administration requires 
        all health care providers to be credentialed by personnel of 
        the Administration prior to providing care to veterans, the 
        Report revealed disturbing lapses and inconsistencies in 
        adherence to that policy due in part to a lack of mandatory 
        training for credentialing personnel.
            (4) In addition to endangering the care of veterans at 
        facilities of the Veterans Health Administration, the hiring of 
        health care providers who lack proper credentials wastes time 
        and financial resources of the Administration.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) without the implementation of uniform policies for 
        credentialing health care providers and a periodic review of 
        all provider credentials, the Veterans Health Administration 
        will continue to hire or retain providers who lack proper 
        credentials to the detriment of patients seeking the services 
        of the Administration; and
            (2) the Veterans Health Administration must act swiftly to 
        ensure that--
                    (A) all health care providers are properly 
                credentialed;
                    (B) all credentialing personnel are properly 
                trained to identify adverse actions in the history of a 
                provider that are disqualifying; and
                    (C) all Veterans Integrated Service Networks, and 
                the facilities that comprise those networks, are able 
                to communicate credentialing information to other 
                networks or facilities to avoid hiring health care 
                providers who lack proper credentials.

SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT OF PROVIDER CREDENTIALING PRACTICES OF THE 
              DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS THROUGH TRAINING AND 
              TRANSPARENCY.

    (a) In General.--Section 7402 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(h)(1) The Under Secretary for Health shall prescribe 
regulations, administrative guidance, and management controls 
applicable to the credentialing of persons appointed to a position 
under this section and, to the maximum extent feasible, provide advice, 
assistance, and guidance to personnel of the Administration to improve 
the credentialing process and ensure that all persons appointed to such 
a position meet the qualifications for that position.
    ``(2)(A) The Under Secretary for Health shall require that all 
personnel of the Administration who verify credentials for persons 
appointed under this section, review qualifications for such persons, 
or hire such persons periodically undergo training to review relevant 
law and policy regarding provider qualifications for employment with 
the Administration.
    ``(B) Training required under subparagraph (A) for personnel 
described in that subparagraph shall include--
            ``(i) the establishment of uniform credentialing standards 
        and protocols for all facilities of the Administration;
            ``(ii) training on laws and regulations relating to health 
        care providers in the area in which the personnel are located 
        and how those laws and regulations should be considered in the 
        credentialing process; and
            ``(iii) any other information that the Under Secretary for 
        Health considers relevant to include for the benefit of the 
        personnel or those served by the Administration.
    ``(C) All newly hired personnel described in subparagraph (A) shall 
complete training under this paragraph before being allowed to verify 
credentials for persons appointed under this section, review 
qualifications for such persons, or hire such persons.
    ``(D) The Under Secretary for Health shall review and update 
training under this paragraph according to changes in law, guidance 
issued by the Under Secretary, or any other circumstance that affects 
the content of the training.
    ``(3) The Under Secretary for Health--
            ``(A) shall enroll all persons appointed under this section 
        in continuous query of their record within the National 
        Practitioner Data Bank; and
            ``(B) shall develop and implement a mechanism for 
        monitoring the continuous query described in subparagraph (A) 
        and updating credential information of persons appointed under 
        this section within the VetPro System, or successor system, to 
        facilitate the sharing of credential information between 
        Veterans Integrated Service Networks and facilities of the 
        Administration.
    ``(4)(A) Not less frequently than annually, the Under Secretary for 
Health shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the 
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 
and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Oversight 
and Reform of the House of Representatives an audit of all persons 
employed by the Administration pursuant to an appointment described in 
this section who have an adverse action reported on the National 
Practitioner Data Bank.
    ``(B) The audit required under subparagraph (A) shall include for 
each person covered by the audit the following:
            ``(i) The Veterans Integrated Service Network and State 
        where the person works or worked.
            ``(ii) The occupation of the person.
            ``(iii) The date the person was hired and the date of 
        removal or resignation of the person, if applicable.
            ``(iv) A brief summary of the report provided by the 
        National Practitioner Data Bank describing the lack of 
        qualifications, disciplinary actions, or adverse findings with 
        respect to the person that impact the ability of the person to 
        perform the duties of the position to which the person was 
        appointed under this section.
            ``(v) The response of the Under Secretary for Health to the 
        report under clause (iv) regarding the eligibility of the 
        person to continue employment at the Administration, including 
        a brief explanation or citation of relevant policy of the 
        Administration used in making such response.
    ``(C) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require the 
disclosure of information that is otherwise protected from mandatory 
disclosure by law.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take 
effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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