Improving Healthcare Quality, Staffing, and Accountability in Indian Health Service.
This legislation aims to significantly enhance the quality and availability of healthcare provided by the Indian Health Service (IHS) to Native American citizens. It introduces new financial and housing incentives to combat severe staffing shortages and establishes stricter accountability measures for employees and senior executives regarding misconduct or poor performance. Crucially, the act mandates that unspent funds be prioritized for direct patient care, such as essential medical equipment and staffing.
Key points
New incentives, including housing vouchers and improved loan repayment terms, are established to recruit and retain doctors, nurses, and critical staff in IHS facilities facing shortages.
The law creates a centralized medical credentialing system and faster procedures for removing or demoting IHS employees and senior executives for misconduct or poor performance.
It strengthens protections for whistleblowers reporting violations and requires IHS funds to be prioritized for patient care (equipment, staffing) rather than administrative bonuses or office remodeling.
IHS facilities must establish standards to measure and improve the timeliness of care provided to patients, with annual reports made publicly available.
Expired
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