,,ib ,union ,calendar ,no4 #dif #aaith  
,,congress  #b;d ,session  ,h4 ,r4 #cdhb
 ,report ,no4 #aai-egf ,,in ,,the       
,,house ,,of ,,representatives  ,may    
#ai1 #bjbe,mr4 ,barrett introduced the  
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs   
,march #cj1 #bjbf;,additional sponsor3  
,ms4 ,budzinski  ,march #cj1            
#bjbf,reported with an amendment1       
committed to the ,committee of the      
,whole ,house on the ,state of the      
,union1 and ordered to be printed,strike
 out all after the enacting clause and  
insert the part printed in italic,for   
text of introduced bill1 see copy of    
bill as introduced on ,may #ai1 #bjbe   
,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 ,electronic process ,subsection 7d7 
of 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 to 
read as follows3  7d7 ,electronic       
process  7#a7 ,the ,secretary shall     
implement an electronic process through 
which a scheduler of the ,department1   
using an information technology system1 
may schedule an appointment for health  
care furnished by the ,department or    
through the ,veterans ,community ,care  
,program1 under section #agjc of this   
title1 by a non-,department health care 
provider4  7#b7 ,the electronic process 
under this subsection shall allow a     
scheduler1 with regards to appointments 
described in-- 7,a7 either clause of    

subparagraph 7,a7 of subsection 7a77#a71
 to view1 search1 and sort such         
appointments by type of care1 location1 
and date2 and  7,b7 clause 7ii7 of such 
subparagraph-- 7i7 to schedule such an  
appointment2  7ii7 to provide referral  
and authorization documents directly to 
a non-,department provider2 and  7iii7  
to perform any other function the       
,secretary determines necessary4  7#c7  
,the ,secretary shall ensure that the   
electronic process allows a scheduler to
 schedule an appointment for health care
 furnished by the ,secretary through a  
health care provider of the ,department4
  7#d7 ,the ,secretary shall implement  
the electronic process through an       
existing agreement if practicable4  7#e7
 ,the ,secretary shall submit to the    
,committees on ,veterans' ,affairs of   
the ,senate and ,house of               
,representatives the following regarding
 the electronic process3 7,a7 ,not later
 than #ij days after the ,secretary     
makes a determination under subparagraph

 7,b77iii7 of paragraph 7#b71 a briefing
 regarding the functions the ,secretary 
has determined necessary4  7,b7 ,not    
later than six months after the date of 
the enactment of ,veterans ,community   
,care ,scheduling ,improvement ,act1 and
 semiannually thereafter during the     
following three years1 a report         
regarding operation of the electronic   
process during both the semiannual      
period preceding the date of the report 
and the cumulative period since the date
 of the enactment of such ,act4 ,such a 
report shall include the following for  
each such period3 7i7 ,the number of    
non-,department health care providers   
that participated in such electronic    
process1 disaggregated by-- 7,i7        
category of hospital care or medical    
services provided2 and  7,,ii7 medical  
center of the ,department2  7ii7 ,the   
number of appointments scheduled        
pursuant to the electronic process1     
disaggregated by-- 7,i7 category of     
hospital care or medical services       

provided2  7,,ii7 medical center of the 
,department2 and  7,,iii7 month4  7iii7 
,a comparison of the average wait time  
for appointments scheduled through the  
electronic process and through          
non-electronic methods1 disaggregated by
 medical center of the ,department4     
7iv7 ,the rates at which veterans       
cancelled appointments scheduled through
 the electronic process4  7v7 ,the rates
 at which veterans did not appear for   
appointments scheduled through the      
electronic process4  4  7b7             
,implementation  7#a7 ,date ,the        
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
implement the electronic process under  
subsection 7d7 of section #agjc;,h of   
such title1 as added by this section1   
not later than two years after the date 
of the enactment of this ,act4  7#b7    
,guidelines ,not later than #ij days    
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 the ,secretary of ,veterans       
,affairs shall establish guidelines4    
,such guidelines shall include the      

following3 7,a7 ,procedures for         
schedulers and other employees of the   
,department involved in the scheduling  
of appointments described in such       
section4  7,b7 ,a directive that        
employees described in subparagraph 7,a7
 use the electronic process to the      
extent practicable4  7,c7 ,a directive  
that employees described in subparagraph
 7,a71 when scheduling an appointment   
for a covered veteran 7as such term is  
used in section #agjc of such title7 for
 health care furnished by the           
,secretary1 inform such covered veteran 
of available appointments though        
providers of the ,department and through
 providers under the ,veterans          
,community ,care ,program when eligible4
  7,d7 ,procedures for engaging with    
non-,department health care providers in
 specialized cases4  7,e7 ,standards    
regarding timeliness and accuracy4  7,f7
 ,escalation protocols for scheduling   
failures or delays4  7#c7 ,training ,not
 later than #ahj days after the date of 

the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary shall implement a mandatory  
training program for employees described
 in paragraph 7#b7 regarding the        
guidelines under paragraph 7#b74  7#d7  
,evaluation ,not later than #fj days    
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 the ,secretary shall prescribe    
performance benchmarks and outcome-based
 metrics for the electronic process     
under such section1 including-- 7,a7    
time between a referral and a scheduled 
appointment2  7,b7 patient satisfaction2
 and  7,c7 the percentage of            
appointments scheduled exclusively      
through the electronic process4  7#e7   
,outreach ,not later than #ij days after
 the date of the enactment of this ,act1
 the ,secretary shall plan and carry out
 an outreach strategy to encourage      
non-,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
health care providers that participate  
in the ,veterans ,community ,care       
,program to participate in the          
electronic process under such           

subsection4 ,such outreach shall-- 7,a7 
include contacting each such provider   
during such #ij days2  7,b7 include     
seeking to enter into an agreement with 
each such provider under which the      
provider shall participate in the       
electronic process2  7,c7 include       
collaborating with ,state hospital      
associations and rural health           
associations to promote such            
participation2  7,d7 focus on providers 
in specialties or underserved areas1 as 
determined by the ,secretary2 and  7,e7 
include the publication1 on a publicly  
accessible website of the ,department1  
of information regarding-- 7i7 details  
of the electronic process2  7ii7 how a  
provider may elect to participate in the
 electronic process2 and  7iii7 a point 
of contact in the ,department regarding 
the electronic process4  7#f7 ,oversight
 ,the ,secretary shall submit to the    
,committees on ,veterans' ,affairs of   
the ,senate and ,house of               
,representatives1 with regards to the   

electronic process under such           
subsection1 the following3 7,a7 ,not    
later than #cj days after the ,secretary
 establishes guidelines under paragraph 
7#b7 of this subsection1 a copy of such 
guidelines4  7,b7 ,not later than #cj   
days after the ,secretary formulates the
 plan under paragraph 7#e7 of this      
subsection1 a briefing on the outreach  
strategy under such paragraph4  7,c7    
,not later than #ahj days after the date
 of the enactment of this ,act1 the     
benchmarks and metrics prescribed under 
paragraph 7#d74  7c7 ,expansion ,not    
later than #ij days after the date of   
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary shall submit to the          
,committees on ,veterans' ,affairs of   
the ,senate and ,house of               
,representatives a plan to integrate the
 scheduling of appointments for health  
care furnished through health care      
providers of the ,department of         
,veterans ,affairs into the electronic  
process under subsection 7d7 of section 

#agjc;,h of such title4 ,such plan shall
 include the following elements3 7#a7 ,a
 timeline to implement such plan4  7#b7 
,estimated costs to carry out such plan4
  7#c7 ,changes to policies and         
procedures of the ,department the       
,secretary determines necessary to      
implement such plan4  7d7 ,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 transferred and      
redesignated by this subsection1 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 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,d7 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,e7 in  
the section enumerator1 by striking     
,sec4 and inserting 2 and  7,f7 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  #c4 ,extension of certain limits on  
payment of pension ,section             
#eejc7;d77#g7 of title #ch1 ,united     
,states ,code1 is amended by striking   
,january #ca1 #bjcc and inserting ,june 
#cj1 #bjcc4  ,march #cj1 #bjbf,reported 
with an amendment1 committed to the     
,committee of the ,whole ,house on the  
,state of the ,union1 and ordered to be 
printed