S. 450 — Introduced in Senate

II 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 450 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 12, 2019Mr. 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. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Veterans Improved Access and Care Act of 2019. 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. 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.