S. 372 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to contract with a nonfederal entity to review the work of health care providers in the Veterans Health Administration who have had a professional license terminated for care and services that were provided in a facility other than a VA facility. The clinical review would assess the quality of care furnished by those providers in VA facilities. If the review determines that VA’s standards for care were not met during an episode of care from that provider, the bill would require the department to notify the individual who received that care or service.
CBO expects that VA’s current practices would satisfy the bill’s requirements. VA does not generally hire providers whose professional licenses have been revoked. VA contracts with an external entity for clinical reviews of health care providers if it cannot conduct them in a timely manner, and it notifies patients if it discovers adverse events during treatment. Thus, CBO estimates that implementing the bill would not affect the federal budget.
