[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 450 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 450

   To require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot 
program to expedite the onboarding process for new medical providers of 
   the Department of Veterans Affairs, to reduce the duration of the 
   hiring process for such medical providers, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 12, 2019

Mr. Gardner (for himself and Mr. Peters) 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 carry out a pilot 
program to expedite the onboarding process for new medical providers of 
   the Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Veterans Improved Access and Care 
Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM ON EXPEDITING THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 
              PROCESS FOR ONBOARDING NEW MEDICAL PROVIDERS.

    (a) Pilot Program Authorized.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 
        carry out a pilot program to assess the feasibility and 
        advisability of expediting the process of the Veterans Health 
        Administration for onboarding new medical providers.
            (2) Goal for program.--Under the pilot program, the 
        Secretary shall seek to reduce the length of time it takes to 
        onboard medical providers to no more than 60 days.
    (b) Locations.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary shall select not fewer than 
        ten medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs at 
        which to carry out the pilot program.
            (2) Regional diversity.--The medical facilities selected 
        under paragraph (1) shall be located in regionally diverse 
        areas, as determined by the Secretary.
            (3) Priority.--In selecting medical facilities under 
        paragraph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to medical 
        facilities facing hiring shortages of licensed independent 
        medical providers.
    (c) Onboarding Process Defined.--In this section, the term 
``onboarding process'' means the process of bringing on a medical 
provider applicant after the medical provider is offered a tentative 
position, including certification of credentialing, background 
investigation, assessment of health status, and such other actions as 
are necessary for starting employment.

SEC. 3. STRATEGY TO REDUCE DURATION OF HIRING PROCESS OF DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR LICENSED PROFESSIONAL MEDICAL 
              PROVIDERS.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 
to Congress a strategy to reduce the duration of the hiring process of 
the Department of Veterans Affairs for licensed professional medical 
providers by half.
    (b) Expedited Certification.--The strategy submitted under 
subsection (a) shall describe how the overall certification of 
credentials process of the Department for licensed professional medical 
providers can be expedited.
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