Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act
The Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act would create a new, online scheduling program run by Veterans Affairs (VA) employees to book appointments for covered veterans either with VA community care providers (non-VA providers participating in the Veterans Community Care Program) or with VA providers when appropriate. The program would be operated through an information technology system and would replace the prior scheduling process where applicable. Key features include the ability to view/search/sort appointments by care type, location, and date; the ability to schedule appointments and send referrals or authorization documents to non-VA providers; and the authority for VA schedulers to perform related functions as needed. The act would require regulations within 90 days, an outreach campaign to recruit participating non-VA providers, and a publicly accessible VA website detailing the program and how to participate. It also establishes reporting requirements to Congress, including ongoing operational metrics, and creates a sunset, with the program terminating seven years after enactment. In short, the bill aims to streamline and modernize how veterans’ health care appointments are scheduled within the Veterans Community Care Program by shifting to a centralized, IT-based scheduling system run by VA staff, while mandating outreach to non-VA providers and providing for oversight and a limited-term authorization.
Key Points
- 1Creation of an online scheduling program run by VA employees for appointments in the Veterans Community Care Program, including non-VA providers that elect to participate, using an information technology system.
- 2Scheduling capabilities and workflow, including viewing/searching/sorting by care type, location, and date; scheduling appointments; providing referrals or authorization documents to non-VA providers; and other necessary functions determined by the Secretary.
- 3Regulatory and outreach requirements: regulations within 90 days; directive for VA medical centers to use the IT scheduling system when practicable; outreach within 90 days to encourage non-VA providers to participate; publication of a public VA website with program details, participation steps, and contact information.
- 4Oversight and reporting: periodic reports to Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees, including post-determination and post-prescription documents, the plan and regulations, and ongoing biannual operation reports for six years; metrics include number of non-VA providers participating and disaggregated appointment counts by program vs. traditional scheduling, type of service, and month.
- 5Sunset provision and codification: the program terminates seven years after enactment; the bill reorganizes and renames the relevant section (creating new 1703H) within Title 38, United States Code, including conforming amendments and table of sections.