HR3482-119

What This Bill Does

The Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act amends the 2020 veterans health care law governing community care scheduling. It requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to implement an electronic process through which a VA Department scheduler, using an information technology system, may schedule appointments for health care furnished by VA or through the Veterans Community Care Program by a non-Department provider. The system must let schedulers view, search, and sort appointments by type of care, location, and date. For community care appointments, it must allow the scheduler to book the appointment, provide referral and authorization documents directly to the non-Department provider, and perform other functions the Secretary determines necessary.

Who Benefits and How

Veterans seeking Community Care appointments benefit because VA schedulers can directly book appointments and transmit referral and authorization documents instead of relying on slower handoffs. Non-Department health care providers in the Veterans Community Care Program benefit because they receive scheduling information and authorization documents directly through the process. VA schedulers benefit from one information technology process for viewing, searching, sorting, and booking appointments. Health information technology vendors may benefit from VA demand for scheduling, referral, and authorization tools. Veterans living far from VA facilities benefit if community appointments become easier to arrange.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Department of Veterans Affairs must implement and maintain the electronic process. VA health IT administrators must integrate scheduling, referral, authorization, provider, and appointment data. VA schedulers must use the system and manage direct booking workflows. Non-Department providers must receive and act on electronic referral and authorization documents. Federal taxpayers bear implementation and maintenance costs for the VA technology work.

Key Provisions

• Requires VA to implement an electronic process for scheduling VA and Veterans Community Care Program appointments.
• Allows VA schedulers to view, search, and sort appointments by type of care, location, and date.
• Allows direct scheduling of community care appointments with non-Department providers.
• Requires the process to transmit referral and authorization documents directly to non-Department providers.
• Authorizes additional scheduling functions the Secretary determines necessary.