Bill > HR3482

This bill, the Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act, aims to enhance how veterans schedule appointments for healthcare services. It mandates the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish an electronic system that allows VA schedulers to book appointments for veterans with healthcare providers both within the VA and through the Veterans Community Care Program, which connects veterans with non-VA providers. This new system will enable schedulers to view, search, and sort appointments by care type, location, and date, and to directly send referral and authorization documents to non-VA providers. The bill also requires the VA to develop guidelines for using this electronic process, implement mandatory training for employees, and set performance benchmarks and outcome metrics. Furthermore, it mandates an outreach strategy to encourage non-VA providers to participate in the electronic system and requires the VA to submit reports to Congress on the operation and effectiveness of this new scheduling process, including data on provider participation, appointment numbers, wait times, and cancellation rates. The bill also includes a provision to extend certain limits on pension payments and requires the VA to develop a plan to integrate scheduling for VA-provided healthcare into this new electronic system.