,i  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #cdhb  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #ai1 #bjbe,mr4  
,barrett introduced the following bill2 
which was referred to the ,committee on 
,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
amend title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 
to establish an online program through  
which an employee of the ,department of 
,veterans ,affairs may schedule an      
appointment for a covered veteran with a
 non-,department health care provider   
under the ,veterans ,community ,care    
,program1 and for other purposes4  #a4  
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,veterans ,community ,care          
,scheduling ,improvement ,act4  #b4     
,scheduling of appointments under the   
,veterans ,community ,care ,program  7a7
 ,in general ,section #caja of the      
,johnny ,isakson and ,david ,p4 ,roe1   
,m4,d4 ,veterans ,health ,care and      
,benefits ,improvement ,act of #bjbj    
7,public ,law #aaf-cae2 #ch ,u4,s4,c4   
#agja note7 is amended by striking      

subsection 7d7 and inserting the        
following new subsection 7d73  7d7      
,program on scheduling appointments with
 ,community ,care providers by employees
 of the ,department through information 
technology system  7#a7 ,not later than 
one year after the date of the enactment
 of the ,veterans ,community ,care      
,scheduling ,improvement ,act1 the      
,secretary shall1 instead of the process
 under subsection 7a71 carry out a      
program through which a scheduler of the
 ,department-- 7,a7 may schedule1 for a 
veteran1 an appointment--  7i7 for      
health care furnished through the       
,veterans ,community ,care ,program2 and
  7ii7 offered by a non-,department     
health care provider that participates  
in the ,veterans ,community ,care       
,program and elects to participate in   
the program under this subsection2 and  
7,b7 using an information technology    
system4  7#b7 ,the ,secretary shall     
carry out the program under this        
subsection through an existing agreement

 if practicable4  7#c7 ,the program     
under this subsection shall1 with       
regards to an appointment available with
 a ,department provider or a            
non-,department provider that           
participates in the ,veterans ,community
 ,care ,program1 allow a scheduler--    
7,a7 to view1 search1 and sort such     
appointments by type of care1 location1 
and date2  7,b7 to schedule such an     
appointment2  7,c7 to provide referral  
or authorization documents directly to a
 non-,department provider2 and  7,d7 to 
perform any other function the          
,secretary determines necessary4  7#d7  
,not later than #ij days after the date 
of the enactment of the ,veterans       
,community ,care ,scheduling            
,improvement ,act1 the ,secretary shall 
prescribe regulations under this        
subsection4 ,such regulations shall     
include a directive to employees at     
medical centers of the ,department to   
use the information technology system   
under this subsection to schedule       

appointments described in paragraph 7#a7
 instead of the process under subsection
 7a7 whenever practicable4  7#e7 ,not   
later than #ij days after the date of   
the enactment of the ,veterans          
,community ,care ,scheduling            
,improvement ,act1 the ,secretary shall 
plan and carry out an outreach campaign 
to encourage non-,department providers  
that participate in the ,veterans       
,community ,care ,program to participate
 in the program under this subsection4  
,such outreach shall include the        
publication of a publicly accessible    
website of the ,department regarding--  
7,a7 details of the program2  7,b7 how a
 provider may elect to participate in   
the program2 and  7,c7 a point of       
contact in the ,department regarding the
 program4  7#f7 ,the ,secretary shall   
submit to the ,committees on ,veterans' 
,affairs of the ,senate and ,house of   
,representatives the following documents
 regarding the program under this       
subsection3 7,a7 ,not later than #cj    

days after each determination described 
in paragraph 7#c77;,d71 a report        
regarding each function described in    
such subparagraph4  7,b7 ,not later than
 #cj days after prescription1 a copy of 
the regulations prescribed under        
paragraph 7#d74  7,c7 ,not later than   
#cj days after the ,secretary formulates
 the plan under paragraph 7#e71 a copy  
of such plan4  7,d7 ,not later than #ah 
months after the date of the enactment  
of the ,veterans ,community ,care       
,scheduling ,improvement ,act and every 
six months thereafter during the        
following five years1 a report regarding
 operation of such program during the   
six months preceding the date of the    
report4 ,such a report shall include the
 following3 7i7 ,the number of          
non-,department health care providers   
who participated in such program4  7ii7 
,the number of appointments under the   
,veterans ,community ,care ,program1    
scheduled by a scheduler of the         
,department1 disaggregated by-- 7,i7    

whether the appointment was scheduled   
under such program or by the process    
under subsection 7a72  7,,ii7 category  
of medical services provided2 and       
7,,iii7 month4  7#g7 ,the program under 
this subsection shall terminate seven   
years after the date of the enactment of
 the ,veterans ,community ,care         
,scheduling ,improvement ,act4  4  7b7  
,codification  7#a7 ,in general ,section
 #caja of such ,act1 as amended by      
subsection 7a71 is transferred to       
subchapter ,i of chapter #ag of title   
#ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 inserted    
after section #agjc;,g1 and redesignated
 as section #agjc;,h4  7#b7 ,conforming 
amendments ,section #agjc;,h of such    
title1 as added by this section1 is     
amended-- 7,a7 by striking any heading  
that is not a section heading or        
subsection heading and conforming the   
margins accordingly2  7,b7 by striking  
of title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code both
 places it appears and inserting of this
 title2  7,c7 in subsection 7a77#a7--   

7i7 in the matter preceding subparagraph
 7,a71 by striking ,not later than #fj  
days after the date of the enactment of 
this ,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans  
,affairs and inserting ,the ,secretary2 
and  7ii7 in subparagraph 7,a71 by      
striking ,department of ,veterans       
,affairs and inserting ,department2     
7,d7 in subsection 7b77#a71 by striking 
,not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this ,act1 the      
,secretary and inserting ,the           
,secretary2  7,e7 in subsection 7c7--   
7i7 in paragraph 7#a71 in the matter    
preceding subparagraph 7,a71 by striking
 ,not later than #ahj days after the    
date of the enactment of this ,act1 the 
,secretary and inserting ,the           
,secretary2 and  7ii7 in paragraph 7#b71
 by striking subparagraphs 7,a7 and 7,b7
 and inserting ,the ,secretary shall    
require each medical facility of the    
,department to use the method or tool   
described in paragraph 7#a742  7,f7 in  
the section enumerator1 by striking     

,sec4 and inserting 2 and  7,g7 in the  
section heading--  7i7 by striking      
,process and requirements for scheduling
 appointments for health care from      
,department of ,veterans ,affairs and   
non-,department health care4 and        
inserting ,scheduling of appointments2  
and  7ii7 by conforming the typeface and
 typestyle1 including capitalization1 to
 the typeface and typestyle used in the 
section heading of section #agjc;,g of  
such title4  7#c7 ,table of sections    
,the table of sections at the beginning 
of such chapter is amended by inserting1
 after the item relating to section     
#agjc;,g1 the following new item3       
#agjc;,h4 ,scheduling of appointments4  
4