This bill mandates the creation of a single, uniform medical credentialing and privileging system shared by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Gregory Murphy
Representative
NC-3
This bill mandates the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to create a single, uniform system for credentialing and privileging medical providers. The departments must first report on their existing systems and then jointly select one system to be implemented by January 1, 2028. This integration aims to streamline the process for medical providers serving both agencies.
DoD and VA Mandate Single Medical Credentialing System by 2028 to Speed Up Provider Transfers
The new Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Credentialing Integration Act of 2025 is designed to fix a classic bureaucratic headache: different systems for the same job. Essentially, this bill forces the DoD and the VA to stop using separate medical credentialing and privileging systems and adopt a single, unified platform by early 2028.
The Administrative Speed Bump
Right now, if a doctor or nurse transitions from serving in the military (DoD) to working at a VA hospital, they often have to jump through two separate, time-consuming administrative hoops to get credentialed. This bill aims to eliminate that redundancy. The first step requires the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to submit a joint report to Congress within 120 days, detailing exactly what systems they currently use, how well they talk to each other (interoperability), and where the gaps are. Think of it as a detailed audit of their current paperwork processes.
Picking One System and Making It Work
The real action starts in 2027. The bill mandates that the DoD and VA must jointly select one existing credentialing system from either department to become the new, universal standard by January 1, 2027. This means one department’s system will win, and the other’s will be phased out. Once the choice is made, they have to ensure this new joint system can easily import and share all provider information. This is crucial for portability.
Real-World Impact: Less Waiting, More Treating
Why does this matter to the average person or veteran? When medical providers—doctors, specialists, nurses—can’t get credentialed quickly, they can’t treat patients. This administrative bottleneck contributes to wait times at VA facilities and military hospitals. By creating a single system, the goal is to drastically cut down the time it takes to move a qualified provider from, say, a deployment support role to a stateside VA clinic. For the providers themselves, it means significantly less paperwork and faster onboarding when they transition. The agencies must certify that this joint uniform system is fully operational by January 1, 2028.
This is a straightforward piece of legislation with tight deadlines and a clear objective: better administrative efficiency. While the transition itself might be a heavy lift for the federal agencies involved, the outcome promises to streamline operations, benefiting veterans and military families through faster access to care.