Review and plan regarding Department of Veterans Affairs scheduling of medical examinations

(a) Review required Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall complete a review of scheduling request tools, contracts, and systems used by employees and contractors of the Department of Veterans Affairs to order and conduct medical disability examinations. (b) Plan required Not later than one year 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 to ensure the following: (1) Systems and processes used by the Department enable seamless and clear communication of requirements between the claims processors who request medical disability examinations and medical disability examination vendors, including through a contract. (2) Medical disability examiners, including through a contract, review the medical records and claims information necessary to conduct exams that are adequate for purposes of rating claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary. (3) Claimants or appellants for whom a medical disability examination is requested of the Department have agency in determining when and where the examination is conducted within a reasonable timeframe, as determined by the Secretary. (4) Claimants or appellants for whom a medical disability examination is requested of the Department have a seamless experience when scheduling their examinations without regard to which medical disability vendor conducts the examinations. (5) The Department conducts customer satisfaction and experience surveys of claimants or appellants who attend medical disability examinations provided under laws administered by the Secretary.