[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3041 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3041
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that medical
professionals employed by the Veterans Health Administration are
properly credentialed, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 12, 2019
Ms. Hassan (for herself, Ms. Ernst, and Ms. Sinema) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to ensure that medical
professionals employed by the Veterans Health Administration are
properly credentialed, 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 ``Veterans Health Administration
Caregiver Retention and Eligibility Determination Act of 2019'' or the
``VHA CRED Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) A report prepared by the Comptroller General of the
United States in 2019 entitled ``Veterans Health
Administration: Greater Focus on Credentialing Needed to
Prevent Disqualified Providers from Delivering Patient Care''
(GAO-19-6) (in this subsection referred to as the ``Report'')
troublingly found that facilities of the Veterans Health
Administration lack adequate safeguards to ensure that veterans
are not treated by health care providers whose licenses have
been revoked or surrendered for cause.
(2) The Report reviewed 57 health care providers at
facilities of the Veterans Health Administration across the
United States who had an issue reported on the National
Practitioner Data Bank, such as prior instances of poor patient
care, disregard for public safety, substance misuse, or
unprofessional conduct.
(3) Although the Veterans Health Administration requires
all health care providers to be credentialed by personnel of
the Administration prior to providing care to veterans, the
Report revealed disturbing lapses and inconsistencies in
adherence to that policy due in part to a lack of mandatory
training for credentialing personnel.
(4) In addition to endangering the care of veterans at
facilities of the Veterans Health Administration, the hiring of
health care providers who lack proper credentials wastes time
and financial resources of the Administration.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that--
(1) without the implementation of uniform policies for
credentialing health care providers and a periodic review of
all provider credentials, the Veterans Health Administration
will continue to hire or retain providers who lack proper
credentials to the detriment of patients seeking the services
of the Administration; and
(2) the Veterans Health Administration must act swiftly to
ensure that--
(A) all health care providers are properly
credentialed;
(B) all credentialing personnel are properly
trained to identify adverse actions in the history of a
provider that are disqualifying; and
(C) all Veterans Integrated Service Networks, and
the facilities that comprise those networks, are able
to communicate credentialing information to other
networks or facilities to avoid hiring health care
providers who lack proper credentials.
SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENT OF PROVIDER CREDENTIALING PRACTICES OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS THROUGH TRAINING AND
TRANSPARENCY.
(a) In General.--Section 7402 of title 38, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
``(h)(1) The Under Secretary for Health shall prescribe
regulations, administrative guidance, and management controls
applicable to the credentialing of persons appointed to a position
under this section and, to the maximum extent feasible, provide advice,
assistance, and guidance to personnel of the Administration to improve
the credentialing process and ensure that all persons appointed to such
a position meet the qualifications for that position.
``(2)(A) The Under Secretary for Health shall require that all
personnel of the Administration who verify credentials for persons
appointed under this section, review qualifications for such persons,
or hire such persons periodically undergo training to review relevant
law and policy regarding provider qualifications for employment with
the Administration.
``(B) Training required under subparagraph (A) for personnel
described in that subparagraph shall include--
``(i) the establishment of uniform credentialing standards
and protocols for all facilities of the Administration;
``(ii) training on laws and regulations relating to health
care providers in the area in which the personnel are located
and how those laws and regulations should be considered in the
credentialing process; and
``(iii) any other information that the Under Secretary for
Health considers relevant to include for the benefit of the
personnel or those served by the Administration.
``(C) All newly hired personnel described in subparagraph (A) shall
complete training under this paragraph before being allowed to verify
credentials for persons appointed under this section, review
qualifications for such persons, or hire such persons.
``(D) The Under Secretary for Health shall review and update
training under this paragraph according to changes in law, guidance
issued by the Under Secretary, or any other circumstance that affects
the content of the training.
``(3) The Under Secretary for Health--
``(A) shall enroll all persons appointed under this section
in continuous query of their record within the National
Practitioner Data Bank; and
``(B) shall develop and implement a mechanism for
monitoring the continuous query described in subparagraph (A)
and updating credential information of persons appointed under
this section within the VetPro System, or successor system, to
facilitate the sharing of credential information between
Veterans Integrated Service Networks and facilities of the
Administration.
``(4)(A) Not less frequently than annually, the Under Secretary for
Health shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate
and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and the Committee on Oversight
and Reform of the House of Representatives an audit of all persons
employed by the Administration pursuant to an appointment described in
this section who have an adverse action reported on the National
Practitioner Data Bank.
``(B) The audit required under subparagraph (A) shall include for
each person covered by the audit the following:
``(i) The Veterans Integrated Service Network and State
where the person works or worked.
``(ii) The occupation of the person.
``(iii) The date the person was hired and the date of
removal or resignation of the person, if applicable.
``(iv) A brief summary of the report provided by the
National Practitioner Data Bank describing the lack of
qualifications, disciplinary actions, or adverse findings with
respect to the person that impact the ability of the person to
perform the duties of the position to which the person was
appointed under this section.
``(v) The response of the Under Secretary for Health to the
report under clause (iv) regarding the eligibility of the
person to continue employment at the Administration, including
a brief explanation or citation of relevant policy of the
Administration used in making such response.
``(C) Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require the
disclosure of information that is otherwise protected from mandatory
disclosure by law.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall take
effect 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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