A bill to direct the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to jointly select a joint uniform credentialing and privileging system for medical providers, and for other purposes.

This legislation establishes a unified credentialing and privileging system for medical providers serving across the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs. The bill addresses the longstanding administrative inefficiency of maintaining separate credentialing processes for healthcare professionals who may serve both military and veteran populations. By mandating joint selection of a uniform system, the legislation seeks to eliminate duplicative verification processes, reduce administrative burden on medical providers, and facilitate greater flexibility in deploying healthcare resources across these two major federal healthcare systems. The initiative represents a significant step toward integrating healthcare delivery infrastructure between DoD and VA while maintaining the distinct missions of each agency.

The bill directs the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Veterans Affairs to jointly select and implement a uniform credentialing and privileging system applicable to medical providers operating within both departments. This system will standardize the processes by which healthcare professionals are verified, credentialed, and granted clinical privileges to practice within military treatment facilities and VA medical centers. The legislation establishes a collaborative framework requiring both agencies to agree on system specifications, ensuring compatibility with existing medical staff governance structures while creating a single, portable credential recognized across both healthcare systems. The uniform system will apply to physicians, nurses, and other clinical providers who currently must navigate separate credentialing requirements when transitioning between or simultaneously serving DoD and VA facilities.

Implementation responsibility is shared equally between the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, with both Secretaries required to collaborate on system selection and deployment. The legislation does not specify a particular implementation timeline, leaving discretion to the agencies to establish reasonable deadlines for system selection, testing, and full operational deployment. The bill does not explicitly authorize new appropriations, suggesting implementation will occur through existing agency budgets and administrative authorities. Both departments will need to establish joint working groups or coordinating bodies to evaluate potential credentialing systems, develop technical specifications, ensure interoperability with existing personnel management systems, and train staff on new procedures. The absence of specified reporting requirements indicates Congress expects implementation through normal agency rulemaking and administrative processes.

The primary beneficiaries of this legislation are medical providers who serve or transition between DoD and VA healthcare systems, including active duty military physicians, reserve component medical personnel, and civilian providers working in both systems. These professionals will experience reduced administrative burden through elimination of duplicative credentialing applications and verification processes. The VA healthcare system stands to benefit from improved access to military medical personnel during staffing shortages, while DoD gains flexibility in utilizing VA-credentialed providers for military treatment facilities. Secondary beneficiaries include military service members and veterans who may experience improved healthcare access through more efficient provider deployment. Administrative costs should decrease over time as redundant verification processes are eliminated, though initial implementation may require upfront investment in system integration and staff training. The legislation contains no sunset provision, establishing the uniform system as a permanent feature of federal healthcare administration.

The legislation operates under Congress's constitutional authority to raise and support armies, provide for the common defense, and make rules for the government and regulation of the armed forces under Article I, Section 8. Additionally, Congress exercises its authority to provide for veterans' welfare through the same constitutional provisions. The bill builds upon existing statutory frameworks governing military medical personnel and VA healthcare providers, though it does not cite specific amendments to the United States Code. Implementation will require coordination with existing regulations governing medical staff privileges under both DoD and VA regulatory schemes, potentially necessitating amendments to relevant provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations governing healthcare quality assurance, peer review, and clinical privileging. The uniform system must comply with federal healthcare quality standards, including those established by The Joint Commission and other accrediting bodies. The legislation does not preempt state medical licensing requirements, as federal healthcare facilities operate under federal supremacy for credentialing purposes while providers must maintain underlying state licensure.

The primary implementation challenge involves reconciling potentially divergent credentialing standards and privileging criteria between DoD and VA systems, each developed to serve distinct patient populations and institutional missions. The legislation provides no mechanism for resolving disputes between the Secretaries if they cannot reach agreement on system selection, potentially creating implementation deadlock. The absence of specified funding raises concerns about adequate resources for system development, particularly regarding information technology infrastructure required for real-time credential verification across agencies. Privacy and security considerations emerge regarding the sharing of provider performance data, peer review information, and adverse action reports between departments, requiring careful attention to federal healthcare quality improvement privilege protections. The uniform system must balance standardization with the need for specialty-specific privileging criteria that may differ between military operational medicine and veteran long-term care settings. Stakeholder resistance may arise from medical staff organizations concerned about loss of local privileging autonomy or from providers worried about how adverse actions in one system might affect standing in the other. The lack of explicit congressional oversight mechanisms means implementation effectiveness will depend heavily on agency commitment and inter-departmental cooperation.