S. 113: Maximizing Efficiency and Improving Access to Providers at the Department of Veterans Affairs Act

115th Congress · introduced 2017-01-12 · Armed Forces and National Security · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-01-12 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Maximizing Efficiency and Improving Access to Providers at the Department of Veterans Affairs Act

Plain summary

Maximizing Efficiency and Improving Access to Providers at the Department of Veterans Affairs Act This bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to carry out an 18-month pilot program to increase the use of medical scribes to maximize the efficiency of physicians at VA medical facilities. A "medical scribe" is defined as a member of the medical team hired and trained to perform documentation in an electronic health record to maximize the productivity of a physician. The program shall be conducted at not fewer than five medical facilities that: (1) have a high volume of patients; or (2) are in rural areas where there is a shortage of physicians and where each physician has a high caseload. To carry out such program, the VA shall enter into a contract with one or more nongovernmental entities that train and employ professional medical scribes who specialize in the collection of medical data and data entry into electronic health records. The VA shall collect data to determine the effectiveness of the program, including information on changes in the average wait times for veterans to receive care, the average number of patients that a physician is able to see, the average amount of time such a physician spends on documentation, physician satisfaction and retention scores, and patient satisfaction scores.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Maximizing Efficiency and Improving Access to Providers at the Department of Veterans Affairs Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Heller, Dean [R-NV] · 1 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Agencies named in this bill

Department of Veterans Affairs: its federal spending and other bills that name it

Found automatically: the agency's full official name appears in the bill title. A bill can affect agencies it does not name, so this list may be incomplete.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)

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Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115s113.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/s>

Record fed-us-cong115-s113 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115