Sec. 101. Implementation of upgraded Department of Veterans Affairs electronic scheduling system for appointments for receipt of health care from the Department
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Not later than March 31, 2016, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall fully implement an upgraded and centralized electronic scheduling system described in subsection
(b)for appointments by eligible individuals for health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs. In implementing the upgraded electronic scheduling system required by paragraph (1), the Secretary shall use agile software development methodologies to fully implement portions of such system every 180 days beginning on the date on which the Secretary begins the implementation of such system, or enters into a contract for the implementation of such system, and ending on the date on which such system is fully implemented. The upgraded electronic scheduling system described in this subsection shall include mechanisms to achieve the following: An efficient and effective graphical user interface with a calendar view for use by employees of the Department in scheduling appointments that enables error-free scheduling of the health care resources of the Department. A capability to assist employees of the Department to easily and consistently implement policies of the Department with respect to scheduling of appointments, including with respect to priority for appointments for certain eligible individuals. A capability for employees of the Department to sort and view through a unified interface the availability for each health care provider of the Department or other health care resource of the Department. A capability for employees of the Department to sort and view appointments for and appointment requests made by a particular eligible individual. A capability for seamless coordination of appointments for primary care, specialty care, consultations, or any other health care matter among facilities of the Department. A capability for eligible individuals to access the system remotely and schedule appointments directly through the system. An electronic timestamp of each activity made by an eligible individual or on behalf of such individual with respect to an appointment or the scheduling of an appointment that shall be kept in the medical record of such individual. A seamless connection to the Computerized Patient Record System of the Department so that employees of the Department, when scheduling an appointment for an eligible individual, have access to recommendations from the health care provider of such individual with respect to when such individual should receive an appointment. A capability to provide automated reminders to eligible individuals on upcoming appointments through various electronic and voice media. A capability to provide automated reminders to employees of the Department when an eligible individual who is on the wait-list for an appointment becomes eligible to schedule an appointment. A dashboard capability to support efforts to track the following metrics in aggregate and by medical facility with respect to health care provided to eligible individuals under the laws administered by the Secretary: The number of days into the future that the schedules of health care providers are available to schedule an appointment. The number of providers available to see patients each day. The number of support personnel working each day. The types of appointments available. The rate at which patients fail to appear for appointments. The number of appointments canceled by a patient on a daily basis. The number of appointments canceled by a health care provider on a daily basis. The number of patients on the wait list at any given time. The number of appointments scheduled on a daily basis; The number of appointments available to be scheduled on a daily basis. The number of patients seen on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Wait-times for an appointment with a health care provider of the Department. Wait-times for an appointment with a non-Department health care provider. Wait-times for a referral to a specialist or consult. A capability to provide data on the capacity of medical facilities of the Department for purposes of determining the resources needed by the Department to provide health care to eligible individuals. Any other capabilities as specified by the Secretary for purposes of this section. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives a plan for implementing the upgraded electronic scheduling system required by subsection (a). The plan required by paragraph
(1)shall include the following: A description of the priorities of the Secretary for implementing the requirements of the system under subsection (b). A detailed description of the manner in which the Secretary will fully implement such system, including deadlines for completing each such requirement. Not later than 90 days after the submittal of the plan required by paragraph (1), and not less frequently than every 90 days thereafter until such system is fully implemented, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives an update on the status of the implementation of such plan. The Secretary may use amounts available to the Department of Veterans Affairs for the appropriations account under the heading in implementing and carrying out the upgraded electronic scheduling system required by subsection (a). Medical Services In this section, the term eligible individual means an individual eligible for hospital, nursing home, domiciliary, medical care, or other health care under the laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.