Veterans Improved Access and Care Act of 2017
This bill amends the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 to provide access to hospital care and medical services in non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities for all veterans who are enrolled in the VA health care system. (Currently, such access is based upon appointment wait times and distance from, or existence of, VA facilities.)
The VA shall: (1) establish a pilot program to expedite the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) process for bringing on a medical provider after such person is offered a tentative VHA position (onboarding), (2) give priority to medical facilities facing hiring shortages of licensed independent medical providers, and (3) submit to Congress a strategy for reducing the length of the medical provider hiring process by half.
The bill requires that certain personal information be transmitted to the National Practitioner Data Bank and the applicable state licensing board whenever a major adverse action based upon performance or conduct is taken against certain VHA health care employees.