Improving Confidence in Veterans’ Care Act

Improving Confidence in Veterans' Care Act

This bill prescribes oversight requirements for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) regarding health care professionals at VA medical centers.

Specifically, the bill requires the VA to ensure each VA medical center consistently compiles, verifies, and reviews specified documentation for each VA health care professional (including contractors).

The VA shall ensure that specified health care professionals hold an active Drug Enforcement Administration registration.

Each VA medical center must implement (1) monitoring of the performance and quality of the health care delivered by each health care professional at the center, and (2) reviews of such care if an individual notifies the VA of any potential concerns relating to a failure to meet generally accepted standards of clinical practice.

The bill imposes notification requirements in situations where the VA substantiates a concern relating to the clinical competency of, or quality of care delivered by, a current or former VA health care professional.

The VA is prohibited from entering into a settlement agreement relating to an adverse action against a VA health care professional if such agreement includes terms that require the VA to conceal certain information from the employee's personnel file. Such prohibition does not apply to adverse actions determined to be prohibited personnel practices.

The VA must provide mandatory training, at least biannually, to employees who are responsible for specified tasks (e.g., those who are responsible for compiling, validating, or reviewing the credentials of VA health care professionals).

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3530 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3530

   To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
   Veterans Affairs to enforce the licensure requirement for medical 
            providers of the Department of Veterans Affairs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 27, 2019

 Mr. Cloud (for himself, Mr. Bergman, and Mr. Peterson) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of 
   Veterans Affairs to enforce the licensure requirement for medical 
            providers of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

    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 ``Improving Confidence in Veterans' 
Care Act''.

SEC. 2. ENFORCEMENT OF LICENSURE REQUIREMENT FOR MEDICAL PROVIDERS OF 
              THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Section 7402 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (f)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ``more than one'' 
                and inserting ``one or more''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting before the 
                semicolon the following: ``, or, if the position 
                requires the person to prescribe controlled substances, 
                the Drug Enforcement Agency registration of the person 
                has been terminated, revoked, or surrendered, and the 
                person has not received a waiver from the Drug 
                Enforcement Agency'';
            (2) by redesignating subsection (g) as subsection (h); and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (f) the following new 
        subsection (g):
    ``(g)(1) The Secretary shall take prompt and appropriate adverse 
personnel actions pursuant to this chapter against an employee who--
            ``(A) is not licensed, registered, certified, or in receipt 
        of a waiver, as required by subsection (f); or
            ``(B) who does not promptly notify the Secretary of any 
        suspension in such license, registration, or certification.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall conduct biennial audits of employees 
covered by subsection (f) to ensure that the employee is licensed, 
registered, or certified as required by such subsection.
    ``(3) The Secretary shall ensure that the hiring process for 
employees covered by subsection (f) includes--
            ``(A) requesting from the individual applying for the 
        position the status of the licensure, registration, or 
        certification of the individual as required by such subsection, 
        including a description of any actions the individual must take 
        to fulfill such licensure, registration, or certification 
        requirement before beginning such employment; and
            ``(B) verifying such status before the individual begins 
        such employment.
    ``(4) The Secretary shall provide annual training to directors of 
Veterans Integrated Service Networks, directors of Department health-
care facilities, and chiefs of staff of Department health-care 
facilities (and such other employees as the directors or chiefs of 
staff determine appropriate) with respect to carrying out this 
subsection and subsection (f).''.
    (b) Training.--Not later than 60 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit 
to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives 
and the Senate a report describing the training that will be provided 
under subsection (g)(4) of section 7402 of title 38, United States 
Code, as added by subsection (a).
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