#aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  ,s4   
#fjg  ,,an ,,act  ,to require the       
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs to     
establish and implement a plan to       
improve the process for scheduling      
appointments for health care from the   
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 and  
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the          
,improving ,veteran ,access to ,care    
,act4  #b4 ,implementation of and report
 on efforts of ,department of ,veterans 
,affairs to improve health care         
appointment scheduling  7a7 ,in general 
,not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this ,act1 the      
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
submit to the appropriate committees of 
,congress a plan to improve the process 
for scheduling appointments for health  
care from the ,department of ,veterans  
,affairs1 including improvements for    
both patients and employees of the      
,department responsible for scheduling  
such appointments4  7b7 ,elements of    

plan  7#a7 ,in general ,the plan        
required by subsection 7a7 shall        
include-- 7,a7 such actions1 resources1 
technology1 and process improvements as 
the ,secretary determines necessary to  
ensure the ,department achieves1 in a   
timely manner1 improved delivery of     
health care1 access to health care1     
customer experience and service relating
 to the receipt of health care1 and     
efficiency with respect to the delivery 
of health care2 and  7,b7 a proposed    
schedule and timeline to carry out such 
plan4  7#b7 ,objectives  7,a7 ,in       
general ,the ,secretary shall ensure    
that the plan required by subsection 7a7
 addresses the following objectives3 7i7
 ,to develop or continue the development
 of a scheduling system that enables    
both personnel and patients of the      
,department to view available           
appointments for care furnished by the  
,department1 including primary care1    
mental health care1 and all forms of    
specialty care4  7ii7 ,to develop or    

continue the development of a           
self-service scheduling platform1       
available for use by all patients of the
 ,department1 which shall-- 7,i7 enable 
such patients to view available         
appointments and1 subject to the method 
provided under subclause 7,,ii71 fully  
schedule appointments for all care      
furnished by the ,department2  7,,ii7 if
 a referral is required for an          
appointment1 provide a method for the   
patient to request a referral and       
subsequently book an appointment if the 
referral is approved2 and  7,,iii7      
provide such patients with the ability  
to cancel or reschedule appointments4   
7iii7 ,to create a process through which
 all patients of the ,department can    
telephonically speak with a scheduler   
who can assist the patient to determine 
appointment availability and can fully  
schedule appointments on behalf of the  
patient for all care furnished by the   
,department4  7iv7 ,to carry out such   
other functions1 oversight1 metric      

development and tracking1 change        
management1 cross-,department           
coordination1 and other related matters1
 including improvements to              
employee-facing information technology1 
training1 and processes1 as the         
,secretary determines appropriate as it 
relates to scheduling tools1 functions1 
and operations with respect to health   
care appointments furnished by the      
,department4  7,b7 ,explanation of      
inability to implement certain          
objectives1 features1 or services ,if   
the ,secretary determines that an       
objective under subparagraph 7,a71 or   
any feature or service in connection    
with that objective1 cannot be          
implemented or otherwise incorporated   
into a final product pursuant to the    
plan required by subsection 7a71 the    
,secretary shall include with the plan  
submitted under such subsection a report
 containing-- 7i7 an explanation as to  
why that objective1 feature1 or service 
cannot be implemented or incorporated1  

as the case may be2 and  7ii7 a plan for
 implementing the plan required by      
subsection 7a7 without that objective1  
feature1 or service4  7c7               
,implementation ,not later than two     
years after submitting to the           
appropriate committees of ,congress the 
plan required by subsection 7a71 the    
,secretary shall fully implement the    
plan4  7d7 ,coordination with           
,electronic ,health ,record             
,modernization ,program ,in developing  
the plan required by subsection 7a71 the
 ,secretary shall ensure that the       
elements and objectives of such plan set
 forth under subsection 7b7 are         
developed in consideration of the       
deployment schedule and capabilities of 
the ,electronic ,health ,record         
,modernization ,program of the          
,department to ensure a smooth          
transition to using the tools and       
features under such plan as relevant and
 appropriate4  7e7 ,implementation      
reports ,not later than each of one year

 and two years after the date on which  
the ,secretary submits the plan required
 by subsection 7a71 the ,secretary shall
 submit to the appropriate committees of
 ,congress a report on the progress of  
the ,secretary in implementing such     
plan1 including-- 7#a7 the costs        
incurred to implement the plan as of the
 date of the report2  7#b7 the expected 
costs to complete implementation of the 
plan 7including costs for management and
 technology72  7#c7 the schedule for    
deployment of any capabilities developed
 pursuant to the plan2 and  7#d7 the    
goals and metrics achieved1 challenges1 
and lessons learned in implementing the 
plan4  7f7 ,rule of construction        
,nothing in this section shall be       
construed to require the ,secretary to  
include in the plan required by         
subsection 7a7 any technology or process
 that would preclude or impede the      
ability of a veteran to contact or      
schedule an appointment directly with a 
facility or provider through a          

non-online scheduling process1 should   
the veteran choose to do so4  7g7       
,definitions ,in this section3 7#a7     
,appropriate committees of ,congress    
,the term appropriate committees of     
,congress means the ,committee on       
,veterans' ,affairs of the ,senate and  
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of
 the ,house of ,representatives4  7#b7  
,fully schedule ,the term fully         
schedule1 with respect to an appointment
 for health care1 means that the        
appointment booking is completed1 rather
 than simply requested4  ,passed the    
,senate ,december #ah1 #bjbe4,secretary