[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 206 (Thursday, December 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7218-S7219]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1271. Mr. McCONNELL (for Mr. Gardner (for himself and Mr.
Manchin)) proposed an amendment to the bill S. 221, to amend title 38,
United
[[Page S7219]]
States Code, to require the Under Secretary of Health to report major
adverse personnel actions involving certain health care employees to
the National Practitioner Data Bank and to applicable State licensing
boards, and for other purposes; as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Veterans
Affairs Provider Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY WITHIN VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Reporting Major Adverse Actions to National
Practitioner Data Bank and State Licensing Boards.--Section
7461 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at
the end the following new subsection:
``(f)(1) Whenever the Under Secretary for Health (or an
official designated by the Under Secretary) brings charges
based on conduct or performance against a section 7401(1)
employee and as a result of those charges a covered major
adverse action is taken against the employee, the Under
Secretary shall, not later than 30 days after the date on
which such covered major adverse action is carried out--
``(A) transmit to the National Practitioner Data Bank of
the Department of Health and Human Services and the
applicable State licensing board the name of the employee, a
description of the covered major adverse action, and a
description of the reason for the covered major adverse
action; and
``(B) update the VetPro System, or successor system, with a
record of the covered major adverse action taken and an
indication that information was transmitted under
subparagraph (A).
``(2) The Under Secretary for Health--
``(A) shall enroll all 7401(1) employees in a continuous
query of their record within the National Practitioner Data
Bank; and
``(B) shall develop and implement a mechanism for
maintaining and updating the information collected through
such continuous query within the VetPro System, or successor
system, to facilitate the sharing of such information between
Veterans Integrated Service Networks.
``(3) In this subsection, the term `covered major adverse
action' means a major adverse action with respect to a
section 7401(1) employee that originated from circumstances
in which the behavior of the employee so substantially failed
to meet generally-accepted standards of clinical practice as
to raise reasonable concern for safety of patients.''.
(b) Prohibition on Signing Settlements With Certain
Clauses.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not enter into a settlement
agreement relating to an adverse action against a section
7401(1) employee under which the Department of Veterans
Affairs would be required to conceal a serious medical error
or a lapse in generally-accepted standards of clinical
practice.
(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a negative
record if the head of the Office of Accountability and
Whistleblower Protection of the Department and the Special
Counsel (established by section 1211 of title 5, United
States Code) jointly certify that the negative record is not
legitimate.
(c) Training on Credentialing and Privileging.--The Under
Secretary for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs
shall provide to all staff of the Veterans Health
Administration who handle hiring, privileging, and
credentialing mandatory training on--
(1) all policies of the Veterans Health Administration for
credentialing and privileging; and
(2) when and how to report adverse actions to the National
Practitioner Data Bank of the Department of Health and Human
Services, State licensing boards, and other relevant
entities.
(d) Sense of Congress on Updates to the VHA Handbook.--It
is the sense of Congress that--
(1) Congress recognizes that the confusion regarding
practices in the Veterans Health Administration for reporting
to State licensing boards stems from a lack of guidance in
the Veterans Health Administration handbook 1100.18;
(2) Congress strongly recommends that the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs update such handbook to ensure that
employees of the Veterans Health Administration, officials of
the Veterans Integrated Services Networks, and officials of
the Department of Veterans Affairs understand and are able to
utilize the role of State licensing boards to effectively
prevent instances of failed reporting and future patient
safety concerns;
(3) Congress recognizes the broad authority of the Veterans
Health Administration to report to State licensing boards
those employed or separated health care professionals whose
behavior and clinical practice so substantially failed to
meet generally-accepted standards of clinical practice as to
raise reasonable concern for safety of patients and requests
that such handbook is updated to reflect appropriate
reporting channels to ensure employee understanding of those
procedures and authorities; and
(4) in developing the new handbook, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs should consult with--
(A) State licensing boards;
(B) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services;
(C) the National Practitioner Data Bank of the Department
of Health and Human Services; and
(D) the exclusive representative of section 7401(1)
employees.
(e) Section 7401(1) Employee Defined.--In this section, the
term ``section 7401(1) employee'' has the meaning given that
term in section 7461(c)(1) of title 38, United States Code.
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