,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #fjg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,february #ah1      
#bjbe,ms4 ,hassan 7for herself and ,mr4 
,boozman7 introduced the following bill2
 which was read twice and referred to   
the ,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs   
,a ,,bill  ,to require the ,secretary of
 ,veterans ,affairs to establish an     
integrated project team 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             
,establishment of integrated project    
team of ,department of ,veterans        
,affairs to improve health care         
appointment scheduling  7a7 ,in general 
,the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs1  
through the ,veterans ,health           
,administration and the ,office of      
,information and ,technology of the     
,department of ,veterans ,affairs1 or   

any successor offices or administrations
 of similar function1 shall establish an
 integrated project team to improve the 
process for scheduling appointments for 
health care from the ,department of     
,veterans ,affairs4  7b7 ,purpose ,the  
purpose of this section is to ensure the
 ,department of ,veterans ,affairs      
delivers to patients and employees of   
the ,department in a timely manner the  
scheduling capabilities developed by the
 integrated project team established    
under subsection 7a7 to immediately     
improve delivery of care1 access to     
care1 customer experience and service1  
and efficiency with respect to the      
delivery of care4  7c7 ,objectives ,the 
objectives of the integrated project    
team established under subsection 7a7   
are the following3 7#a7 ,to develop or  
continue the development of a scheduling
 system that enables both personnel and 
patients of the ,department of ,veterans
 ,affairs to view available appointments
 for all care furnished by the          

,department1 including-- 7,a7 available 
appointments for all providers of the   
,department2  7,b7 available            
appointments at all clinics1 hospitals1 
and other health care facilities of the 
,department2 and  7,c7 available        
appointments at all offices providing   
patient care within the health care     
system of the ,department1 including    
primary care and all forms of specialty 
care4  7#b7 ,to develop or continue the 
development of a self-service scheduling
 platform1 available for use by all     
patients of the ,department1 which      
shall-- 7,a7 enable such patients to    
view available appointments and fully   
schedule appointments for all care      
furnished by the ,department1           
including-- 7i7 appointments for all    
providers of the ,department2  7ii7     
appointments at all clinics1 hospitals1 
and other health care facilities of the 
,department2 and  7iii7 appointments at 
all offices providing patient care      
within the health care system of the    

,department1 including primary care and 
all forms of specialty care2  7,b7 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,c7 provide such        
patients with the ability to cancel or  
reschedule appointments4  7#c7 ,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   
,department1 including-- 7,a7           
appointments for all providers of the   
,department2  7,b7 appointments at all  
clinics1 hospitals1 and other health    
care facilities of the ,department2 and 
7,c7 appointments at all offices        
providing patient care within the health
 care system of the ,department1        
including primary care and all forms of 

specialty care4  7#d7 ,to carry out such
 other functions1 oversight1 metric     
development and tracking1 change        
management1 cross-,department           
coordination1 and other related matters 
as the ,secretary determines appropriate
 as it relates to scheduling tools1     
functions1 and operations with respect  
to health care appointments furnished by
 the ,department4  7d7 ,coordination    
with ,electronic ,health ,record        
,modernization ,program  7#a7 ,in       
general ,the integrated project team    
established under subsection 7a7 shall  
carry out the objectives under          
subsection 7c7 in consultation and      
coordination with the deployment        
schedule and capabilities of the        
,electronic ,health ,record             
,modernization ,program of the          
,department of ,veterans ,affairs to    
ensure a smooth transition to using the 
tools and features1 where relevant and  
appropriate1 that may be created        
pursuant to this section1 along with the

 features in the ,electronic ,health    
,record ,modernization ,program4  7#b7  
,rule of construction ,nothing in this  
subsection shall be construed to require
 the integrated project team established
 under subsection 7a71 the ,veterans    
,health ,administration1 or the ,office 
of ,information and ,technology of the  
,department to defer or delay the       
deployment of scheduling capabilities   
required by this section because of     
future potential planned capabilities of
 the ,electronic ,health ,record        
,modernization ,program4  7e7 ,deadlines
  7#a7 ,establishment ,not later than   
#ahj days after the date of the         
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
of ,veterans ,affairs1 through the      
,veterans ,health ,administration and   
the ,office of ,information and         
,technology of the ,department of       
,veterans ,affairs1 or any successor    
office1 shall fully establish the       
integrated project team under subsection
 7a74  7#b7 ,completion of objectives   

,not later than one year after the date 
of the enactment of this ,act1 the      
integrated project team established     
under subsection 7a7 shall complete the 
objectives under subsection 7c74  7f7   
,report on objectives ,if the ,secretary
 of ,veterans ,affairs determines that  
an objective under subsection 7c71 or   
any feature or service in connection    
with that objective1 cannot be          
implemented or otherwise incorporated   
into a final product1 the ,secretary    
shall1 within #de days of that          
determination1 submit to the appropriate
 committees of ,congress a report-- 7#a7
 detailing that objective1 feature1 or  
service and providing an explanation as 
to why that objective1 feature1 or      
service cannot be implemented or        
incorporated1 as the case may be2 and   
7#b7 setting forth a plan for           
implementing this section without that  
objective1 feature1 or service4  7g7    
,implementation reports ,not later than 
each of one year and two years after the

 date of the enactment of this ,act1 the
 ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall 
submit to the appropriate committees of 
,congress a report on the progress of   
the ,secretary in fulfilling the        
requirements of this section1           
including-- 7#a7 costs incurred to      
implement such requirements as of the   
date of the report2  7#b7 the expected  
costs to complete implementation of such
 requirements 7including costs for      
management and technology72  7#c7 the   
schedule for deployment of any          
capabilities developed by the integrated
 project team established under         
subsection 7a72 and  7#d7 goals and     
metrics achieved1 challenges1 and       
lessons learned4  7h7 ,rule of          
construction ,nothing in this section   
shall be construed to 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  7i7       

,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 booking an    
appointment1 means that the appointment 
booking is completed1 rather than simply
 requested4