[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 607 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 272
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 607
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 Affairs, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 18, 2025
Ms. Hassan (for herself, Mr. Boozman, Mr. Moran, and Mr. Blumenthal)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
December 2, 2025
Reported by Mr. Moran, with an amendment and an amendment to the title
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
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 Affairs, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.</DELETED>
<DELETED> This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Veteran Access to
Care Act''.</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF INTEGRATED PROJECT TEAM OF DEPARTMENT
OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE APPOINTMENT
SCHEDULING.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs,
through the Veterans Health Administration and the Office of
Information and Technology of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or
any successor offices or administrations of similar function, shall
establish an integrated project team to improve the process for
scheduling appointments for health care from the Department of Veterans
Affairs.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) 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 (a) to
immediately improve delivery of care, access to care, customer
experience and service, and efficiency with respect to the delivery of
care.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (c) Objectives.--The objectives of the integrated project
team established under subsection (a) are the following:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) 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 Department,
including--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) available appointments for all
providers of the Department;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) available appointments at all clinics,
hospitals, and other health care facilities of the
Department; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) available appointments at all offices
providing patient care within the health care system of
the Department, including primary care and all forms of
specialty care.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) To develop or continue the development of a
self-service scheduling platform, available for use by all
patients of the Department, which shall--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) enable such patients to view available
appointments and fully schedule appointments for all
care furnished by the Department, including--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) appointments for all providers
of the Department;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) appointments at all clinics,
hospitals, and other health care facilities of
the Department; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (iii) appointments at all offices
providing patient care within the health care
system of the Department, including primary
care and all forms of specialty care;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) if a referral is required for an
appointment, provide a method for the patient to
request a referral and subsequently book an appointment
if the referral is approved; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) provide such patients with the ability
to cancel or reschedule appointments.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) 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 Department, including--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) appointments for all providers of the
Department;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) appointments at all clinics,
hospitals, and other health care facilities of the
Department; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) appointments at all offices providing
patient care within the health care system of the
Department, including primary care and all forms of
specialty care.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) To carry out such other functions, oversight,
metric development and tracking, change management, cross-
Department coordination, and other related matters as the
Secretary determines appropriate as it relates to scheduling
tools, functions, and operations with respect to health care
appointments furnished by the Department.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (d) Coordination With Electronic Health Record
Modernization Program.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) In general.--The integrated project team
established under subsection (a) shall carry out the objectives
under subsection (c) 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
features, where relevant and appropriate, that may be created
pursuant to this section, along with the features in the
Electronic Health Record Modernization Program.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this
subsection shall be construed to require the integrated project
team established under subsection (a), the Veterans Health
Administration, 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 Program.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (e) Deadlines.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs, through the Veterans Health Administration
and the Office of Information and Technology of the Department
of Veterans Affairs, or any successor office, shall fully
establish the integrated project team under subsection
(a).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Completion of objectives.--Not later than one
year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
integrated project team established under subsection (a) shall
complete the objectives under subsection (c).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (f) Report on Objectives.--If the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs determines that an objective under subsection (c), or any
feature or service in connection with that objective, cannot be
implemented or otherwise incorporated into a final product, the
Secretary shall, within 45 days of that determination, submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) detailing that objective, feature, or service
and providing an explanation as to why that objective, feature,
or service cannot be implemented or incorporated, as the case
may be; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) setting forth a plan for implementing this
section without that objective, feature, or service.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (g) Implementation Reports.--Not later than each of one
year and two years after the date of the enactment of this Act, 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 section, including--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) costs incurred to implement such requirements
as of the date of the report;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) the expected costs to complete implementation
of such requirements (including costs for management and
technology);</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) the schedule for deployment of any
capabilities developed by the integrated project team
established under subsection (a); and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) goals and metrics achieved, challenges, and
lessons learned.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (h) 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 process, should the veteran choose to do
so.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) Definitions.--In this section:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) 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 Representatives.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Fully schedule.--The term ``fully schedule'',
with respect to booking an appointment, means that the
appointment booking is completed, rather than simply
requested.</DELETED>
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Veteran Access to Care
Act''.
SEC. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF AND REPORT ON EFFORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF
VETERANS AFFAIRS TO IMPROVE HEALTH CARE APPOINTMENT
SCHEDULING.
(a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, 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 Affairs, including improvements for both patients and
employees of the Department responsible for scheduling such
appointments.
(b) Elements of Plan.--
(1) In general.--The plan required by subsection (a) shall
include--
(A) such actions, resources, technology, and
process improvements as the Secretary determines
necessary to ensure the Department achieves, in a
timely manner, improved delivery of health care, access
to health care, customer experience and service
relating to the receipt of health care, and efficiency
with respect to the delivery of health care; and
(B) a proposed schedule and timeline to carry out
such plan.
(2) Objectives.--
(A) In general.--The Secretary shall ensure that
the plan required by subsection (a) addresses the
following objectives:
(i) 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 Department, including primary care,
mental health care, and all forms of specialty
care.
(ii) To develop or continue the development
of a self-service scheduling platform,
available for use by all patients of the
Department, which shall--
(I) enable such patients to view
available appointments and, subject to
the method provided under subclause
(II), fully schedule appointments for
all care furnished by the Department;
(II) if a referral is required for
an appointment, provide a method for
the patient to request a referral and
subsequently book an appointment if the
referral is approved; and
(III) provide such patients with
the ability to cancel or reschedule
appointments.
(iii) 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
Department.
(iv) To carry out such other functions,
oversight, metric development and tracking,
change management, cross-Department
coordination, and other related matters,
including improvements to employee-facing
information technology, training, and
processes, as the Secretary determines
appropriate as it relates to scheduling tools,
functions, and operations with respect to
health care appointments furnished by the
Department.
(B) Explanation of inability to implement certain
objectives, features, or services.--If the Secretary
determines that an objective under subparagraph (A), or
any feature or service in connection with that
objective, cannot be implemented or otherwise
incorporated into a final product pursuant to the plan
required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall include
with the plan submitted under such subsection a report
containing--
(i) an explanation as to why that
objective, feature, or service cannot be
implemented or incorporated, as the case may
be; and
(ii) a plan for implementing the plan
required by subsection (a) without that
objective, feature, or service.
(c) Implementation.--Not later than two years after submitting to
the appropriate committees of Congress the plan required by subsection
(a), the Secretary shall fully implement the plan.
(d) Coordination With Electronic Health Record Modernization
Program.--In developing the plan required by subsection (a), the
Secretary shall ensure that the elements and objectives of such plan
set forth under subsection (b) 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
appropriate.
(e) 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 (a), the Secretary shall submit to the
appropriate committees of Congress a report on the progress of the
Secretary in implementing such plan, including--
(1) the costs incurred to implement the plan as of the date
of the report;
(2) the expected costs to complete implementation of the
plan (including costs for management and technology);
(3) the schedule for deployment of any capabilities
developed pursuant to the plan; and
(4) the goals and metrics achieved, challenges, and lessons
learned in implementing the plan.
(f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to require the Secretary to include in the plan required by
subsection (a) 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 process,
should the veteran choose to do so.
(g) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) 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 Representatives.
(2) Fully schedule.--The term ``fully schedule'', with
respect to an appointment for health care, means that the
appointment booking is completed, rather than simply requested.
Amend the title so as to read: ``A bill 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 Affairs, and for other
purposes.''.
Calendar No. 272
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 607
_______________________________________________________________________
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 Affairs, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
December 2, 2025
Reported with an amendment and an amendment to the title