{"id":512967,"date":"2026-01-13T11:10:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T11:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/512967\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T11:10:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T11:10:32","slug":"bipartisan-bill-seeks-to-create-joint-dod-va-credentialing-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/512967\/","title":{"rendered":"Bipartisan bill seeks to create joint DoD\u2013VA credentialing system"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lawmakers want the DoD and the VA to jointly select a single credentialing and privileging system for medical providers by January 2027.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Anastasia Obis<\/a><\/p>\n

\n January 7, 2026 6:14 pm <\/p>\n

3 min read<\/p>\n

A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs to use a single credentialing and privileging system for medical providers, which would allow clinicians to move between DoD and VA facilities without having to go through months-long approval processes.<\/p>\n

Currently, the DoD and the VA rely on separate credentialing and privileging systems to approve their clinicians. But those approvals don\u2019t transfer between the two agencies, forcing providers who switch facilities to restart the approval process from the beginning. The process can take several months, during which clinicians are unable to see patients, which delays access to care and leaves facilities understaffed.<\/p>\n

The legislation<\/a>, introduced by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), would require DoD and VA to provide Congress with a report on the medical provider credentialing and privileging systems they currently use. The report would assess what data each system stores, how portable provider\u2019s credentialing and privileging information is, how interoperable the systems are and where gaps or limitations exist in their interoperability. It would also require recommendations for scaling those systems with the goal of establishing a single, uniform credentialing and privileging system across both departments.<\/p>\n

Under the bill, the Pentagon and the VA would have to jointly select a single credentialing and privileging system by January 2027 and notify Congress that the system is operational by 2028.<\/p>\n

]]><\/p>\n

\u201cHealth care providers shouldn\u2019t be hindered by bureaucratic red tape when caring for the men and women who have bravely served our nation. Our bipartisan legislation would end unnecessary duplication so that medical providers can move between the DoD and VA more quickly, ensuring service members and veterans get the high-quality care they need without delay,\u201d Blackburn said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The credentialing process ensures that providers treating service members and veterans meet required qualifications. Meanwhile, privileging determines the medical services a provider can deliver based on their qualifications and experience.<\/p>\n

Reps. Greg Murphy (R-N.C.) and Susie Lee (D-Nev.) introduced a companion bill<\/a> in the House titled the \u201cDepartment of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Credentialing Integration Act of 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis legislation is a strategic opportunity for the advancement of healthcare priorities throughout the federal sector healthcare system that strengthens workforce recruitment and retention, refines effective government health agency practices and provides for service members and veterans, all while safeguarding and better utilizing Americans\u2019 hard-earned tax dollars,\u201d Murphy said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is unclear what strategy the lawmakers plan to pursue \u2014 while it\u2019s a bipartisan effort, standalone bills often face political hurdles, and lawmakers frequently try to attach such proposals to larger legislative packages like the annual National Defense Authorization Act to increase their chances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The DoD only recently streamlined its privileging process, which now allows medical providers to move between military treatment facilities with minimal administrative delays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of October, providers no longer have to reapply for their clinical privileges when moving within the enterprise, including across stateside and overseas military hospitals and clinics.<\/p>\n

]]><\/p>\n

\u201cHealth care providers should be able to focus on their patients. With portable privileges, they can do so more quickly,\u201d Stephen Ferrara, acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a statement. \u201cEnterprise-wide privileging is just one of many efforts to make the Military Health System more agile. Previously, our health care providers renewed their privileges every two years. With this expanded policy, we have extended the renewal window to three years to reduce their administrative load.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Military Health System said the process of obtaining clinical privileges remains the same under the new policy.<\/p>\n

Copyright
\n \u00a9\u00a02026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lawmakers want the DoD and the VA to jointly select a single credentialing and privileging system for medical…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":512968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49714,37058,229215,210,1141,1142,139911,9702,203185,19095,229216,67,132,68,229217],"class_list":{"0":"post-512967","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-care","8":"tag-defense-department","9":"tag-department-of-veterans-affairs","10":"tag-greg-murphy","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-health-care","13":"tag-healthcare","14":"tag-jacky-rosen","15":"tag-marsha-blackburn","16":"tag-military-health-system","17":"tag-ndaa","18":"tag-stephen-ferrara","19":"tag-united-states","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-veterans-health"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115887487290310990","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512967\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}