[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 221 Referred in House (RFH)]
<DOC>
116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 221
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 23, 2019
Referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To amend title 38, United States Code, to require the Under Secretary
of Health to report major adverse personnel actions involving certain
health care employees to the National Practitioner Data Bank and to
applicable State licensing boards, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Veterans Affairs
Provider Accountability Act''.
SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY WITHIN VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION.
(a) Reporting Major Adverse Actions to National Practitioner Data
Bank and State Licensing Boards.--Section 7461 of title 38, United
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
``(f)(1) Whenever the Under Secretary for Health (or an official
designated by the Under Secretary) brings charges based on conduct or
performance against a section 7401(1) employee and as a result of those
charges a covered major adverse action is taken against the employee,
the Under Secretary shall, not later than 30 days after the date on
which such covered major adverse action is carried out--
``(A) transmit to the National Practitioner Data Bank of
the Department of Health and Human Services and the applicable
State licensing board the name of the employee, a description
of the covered major adverse action, and a description of the
reason for the covered major adverse action; and
``(B) update the VetPro System, or successor system, with a
record of the covered major adverse action taken and an
indication that information was transmitted under subparagraph
(A).
``(2) The Under Secretary for Health--
``(A) shall enroll all 7401(1) employees in a continuous
query of their record within the National Practitioner Data
Bank; and
``(B) shall develop and implement a mechanism for
maintaining and updating the information collected through such
continuous query within the VetPro System, or successor system,
to facilitate the sharing of such information between Veterans
Integrated Service Networks.
``(3) In this subsection, the term `covered major adverse action'
means a major adverse action with respect to a section 7401(1) employee
that originated from circumstances in which the behavior of the
employee so substantially failed to meet generally-accepted standards
of clinical practice as to raise reasonable concern for safety of
patients.''.
(b) Prohibition on Signing Settlements With Certain Clauses.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs may not enter into a settlement
agreement relating to an adverse action against a section
7401(1) employee under which the Department of Veterans Affairs
would be required to conceal a serious medical error or a lapse
in generally-accepted standards of clinical practice.
(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a negative
record if the head of the Office of Accountability and
Whistleblower Protection of the Department and the Special
Counsel (established by section 1211 of title 5, United States
Code) jointly certify that the negative record is not
legitimate.
(c) Training on Credentialing and Privileging.--The Under Secretary
for Health of the Department of Veterans Affairs shall provide to all
staff of the Veterans Health Administration who handle hiring,
privileging, and credentialing mandatory training on--
(1) all policies of the Veterans Health Administration for
credentialing and privileging; and
(2) when and how to report adverse actions to the National
Practitioner Data Bank of the Department of Health and Human
Services, State licensing boards, and other relevant entities.
(d) Sense of Congress on Updates to the VHA Handbook.--It is the
sense of Congress that--
(1) Congress recognizes that the confusion regarding
practices in the Veterans Health Administration for reporting
to State licensing boards stems from a lack of guidance in the
Veterans Health Administration handbook 1100.18;
(2) Congress strongly recommends that the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs update such handbook to ensure that employees
of the Veterans Health Administration, officials of the
Veterans Integrated Services Networks, and officials of the
Department of Veterans Affairs understand and are able to
utilize the role of State licensing boards to effectively
prevent instances of failed reporting and future patient safety
concerns;
(3) Congress recognizes the broad authority of the Veterans
Health Administration to report to State licensing boards those
employed or separated health care professionals whose behavior
and clinical practice so substantially failed to meet
generally-accepted standards of clinical practice as to raise
reasonable concern for safety of patients and requests that
such handbook is updated to reflect appropriate reporting
channels to ensure employee understanding of those procedures
and authorities; and
(4) in developing the new handbook, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs should consult with--
(A) State licensing boards;
(B) the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services;
(C) the National Practitioner Data Bank of the
Department of Health and Human Services; and
(D) the exclusive representative of section 7401(1)
employees.
(e) Section 7401(1) Employee Defined.--In this section, the term
``section 7401(1) employee'' has the meaning given that term in section
7461(c)(1) of title 38, United States Code.
Passed the Senate December 19, 2019.
Attest:
JULIE E. ADAMS,
Secretary.