Download or read book Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-03-29 with total page 467 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Approximately 4 million U.S. service members took part in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shortly after troops started returning from their deployments, some active-duty service members and veterans began experiencing mental health problems. Given the stressors associated with war, it is not surprising that some service members developed such mental health conditions as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use disorder. Subsequent epidemiologic studies conducted on military and veteran populations that served in the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq provided scientific evidence that those who fought were in fact being diagnosed with mental illnesses and experiencing mental healthâ€"related outcomesâ€"in particular, suicideâ€"at a higher rate than the general population. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the quality, capacity, and access to mental health care services for veterans who served in the Armed Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn. It includes an analysis of not only the quality and capacity of mental health care services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, but also barriers faced by patients in utilizing those services.

Download or read book VA Health Care written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Veterans Health Care written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anecdotal information on veterans' waits for outpatient health care--and the locations and clinics where they wait the longest--has led officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and representatives from veteran service organizations to believe that waiting times are often too long. Over the past 10 months, VA has initiated two efforts to gather comprehensive data from its facilities on outpatient waiting time. The first effort, begun in June 1999, produced incomplete and inaccurate data, in part because of the differences in facilities' scheduling of appointments. The second, significantly better effort, begun in December 1999, was designed to improve the data's reliability by measuring the average time taken to schedule an appointment for an entire month; this new method should provide VA with more complete and accurate data. VA has also acted to reduce the time veterans must wait for outpatient appointments. It hired a private contractor to develop and implement techniques to reduce waiting times at selected clinics in VA facilities nationwide and plans to spend $400 million in fiscal year 2001 to improve the timeliness of service, patient access to telephone care, and timely access to clinical information. However, VA's lack of reliable data raises concerns about whether it has an adequate basis on which to design these initiatives. GAO recommends that VA identify the extent and causes of waiting time problems and monitor and track expenditures for addressing them.

Download or read book VA Health Care written by United States Government Accountability Office and published by . This book was released on 2013-01-22 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Outpatient medical appointment wait times reported by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), are unreliable. Wait times for outpatient medical appointments--referred to as medical appointments--are calculated as the number of days elapsed from the desired date, which is defined as the date on which the patient or health care provider wants the patient to be seen. The reliability of reported wait time performance measures is dependent on the consistency with which schedulers record the desired date in the scheduling system in accordance with VHA's scheduling policy. However, VHA's scheduling policy and training documents for recording desired date are unclear and do not ensure consistent use of the desired date. Some schedulers at Veterans Affairs medical centers (VAMC) that GAO visited did not record the desired date correctly. For example, three schedulers changed the desired date based on appointment availability; this would have resulted in a reported wait time that was shorter than the patient actually experienced. VHA officials acknowledged limitations of measuring wait times based on desired date, and described additional information used to monitor veterans' access to medical appointments, including patient satisfaction survey results. Without reliable measurement of how long patients are waiting for medical appointments, however, VHA is less equipped to identify areas that need improvement and mitigate problems that contribute to wait times.While visiting VAMCs, GAO also found inconsistent implementation of VHA's scheduling policy that impedes VAMCs from scheduling timely medical appointments. For example, four clinics across three VAMCs did not use the electronic wait list to track new patients that needed medical appointments as required by VHA scheduling policy, putting these clinics at risk for losing track of these patients. Furthermore, VAMCs' oversight of compliance with VHA's scheduling policy, such as ensuring the completion of required scheduler training, was inconsistent across facilities. VAMCs also described other problems with scheduling timely medical appointments, including VHA's outdated and inefficient scheduling system, gaps in scheduler and provider staffing, and issues with telephone access. For example, officials at all VAMCs GAO visited reported that high call volumes and a lack of staff dedicated to answering the telephones impede scheduling of timely medical appointments. In January 2012, VHA distributed telephone access best practices that, if implemented, could help improve telephone access to clinical care.VHA is implementing a number of initiatives to improve veterans' access to medical appointments such as expanded use of technology to interact with patients and provide care, which includes the use of secure messaging between patients and their health care providers. VHA also is piloting a new initiative to provide health care services through contracts with community providers that aims to reduce travel and wait times for veterans who are unable to receive certain types of care within VHA in a timely way.

Download or read book Veterans Wait Times written by Karen G. Ezell and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2019-08-21 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study contributes to literature by identifying the reactive approach that the U.S. government uses to address the initial problem. It is written from the context of a respiratory therapist who explores the theory of applying telemedicine, of which remote monitoring is included, and telehealth services in a proactive manner to address the problem of long wait times at hospitals and clinics.

Download or read book Analysis of the Department of Veterans Affairs Ability to Regain Veterans Trust Regarding Healthcare Wait Times written by U. S. Military and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2018-09-17 with total page 46 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This project explores whether or not veterans have regained their trust in the appointment process and wait times for healthcare access at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We explore the perception of appointments and wait times for veterans prior to and after the whistleblower report of April 2014. Through this research and data analysis, it was not possible to state unequivocally that the VA is regaining its trust with veterans regarding their healthcare appointment wait times. Secretary McDonald has quantified that any patient care misconduct and manipulation of data and appointment scheduling will not be allowed at the VA. Presently the VA Department of Justice, Inspector General and the Office of Special Counsel are attempting to research and find a way to address employee misconduct in accordance with the due process rights of employees. Adverse actions have been and will continue to be taken when employees are charged with confirmed allegations of misconduct. The objective is for each dated employee to realize how their day to day activities can affect the lives of veterans both in a positive and negative environment. From June 3, 2014 to November 6, 2014, "over 40 disciplinary actions related to data manipulation or patient care have been proposed or decided by the VA." In some cases, the proposed disciplinary action has included dismissal. "A critical component in regaining public trust is the Department's level of transparency." Since January 9, 2014, the VA has posted data online nine times. This published data shows "the number of appointments on waiting lists and the average wait times at each medical center across the country." This level of transparency will enable the public and the veterans to monitor the progress to see how the wait times have decreased based upon how well the accelerated care to veterans has advanced. Past endeavors to diminish wait times may have worked on a temporary basis, but unfortunately, the issue returned in 2014. We are testing whether the current endeavors are having an effect.

Download or read book Waiting for Care written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book VA Health Care written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Veteran Wait Times Social Support Quality of Life and VA Satisfaction written by David E. Pierce and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Veteran’s lack of access to care at the Veterans Administration (VA) has caught the attention of the news media and the American public. Consequently, veterans have become vocal about their lack of access to care, an example of this is wait times for VA health services (Griffin, 2014). Zinzow, Britt, McFadden, Burnette, and Gillispie (2012) described several barriers and facilitators to accessing treatment for veterans. Zinzow et al. (2012) reviewed the facilitators and barriers that military personnel deal with when seeking treatment such as stigma, perceived mental health difficulties, everyday barriers, and attitudes towards getting assistance. The support systems available to veterans are facilitators to treatment and will be one factor examined during this study. The relationships among wait times, combat related factors, and social support will be assessed by the survey and correlated with quality of life and perceived VA satisfaction. The outcome of these analysis will be discussed in relation to veterans who do not have combat related factors.

Download or read book Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-08-24 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access, long waits for treatment are a function of the disjointed manner in which most health systems have evolved to accommodate the needs and the desires of doctors and administrators, rather than those of patients. The result is a health care system that deploys its most valuable resource-highly trained personnel-inefficiently, leading to an unnecessary imbalance between the demand for appointments and the supply of open appointments. This study makes the case that by using the techniques of systems engineering, new approaches to management, and increased patient and family involvement, the current health care system can move forward to one with greater focus on the preferences of patients to provide convenient, efficient, and excellent health care without the need for costly investment. Transforming Health Care Scheduling and Access identifies best practices for making significant improvements in access and system-level change. This report makes recommendations for principles and practices to improve access by promoting efficient scheduling. This study will be a valuable resource for practitioners to progress toward a more patient-focused "How can we help you today?" culture.

Download or read book VA health care written by Debra Draper and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 7 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Va Mental Health Care written by United States. Congress and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-12-12 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: VA mental health care : addressing wait times and access to care : hearing before the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Twelfth Congress, first session, November 30, 2011.

Download or read book Veterans Health Care written by United States. General Accounting Office and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book VA Health Care written by Debra A. Draper and published by . This book was released on 2013-02-18 with total page 51 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Veterans Health Admin. (VHA) provided nearly 80 million outpatient medical appointments to veterans in FY 2011. While VHA has reported continued improvements in achieving access to timely medical appointments, patient complaints and media reports about long wait times persist. This report evaluated VHA's scheduling of timely medical appointments. It examined (1) the extent to which VHA's approach for measuring and monitoring medical appointment wait times reflects how long veterans are waiting for appointments; (2) the extent to which VA Medical Centers (VAMCs) are implementing VHA's policies and processes for appointment scheduling, and any problems encountered in ensuring veterans' access to timely medical appointments; and (3) VHA's initiatives to improve veterans' access to medical appointments. Tables. This is a print on demand report.

Download or read book Va Health Care written by U.s. Government Accountability Office and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-08-02 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " VHA provided nearly 80 million outpatient medical appointments to veterans in fiscal year 2011. While VHA has reported continued improvements in achieving access to timely medical appointments, patient complaints and media reports about long wait times persist. GAO was asked to evaluate VHA's scheduling of timely medical appointments. GAO examined (1) the extent to which VHA's approach for measuring and monitoring medical appointment wait times reflects how long veterans are waiting for appointments; (2) the extent to which VAMCs are implementing VHA's policies and processes for appointment scheduling, and any problems encountered in ensuring veterans' access to timely medical appointments; and (3) VHA's initiatives to improve veterans' access to medical appointments. To conduct this work, GAO made site visits to 23 clinics at four VAMCs, the latter selected for variation in size, complexity, and location. GAO also reviewed VHA's policies and data, and interviewed VHA officials. "

Download or read book Outpatient Waiting Times written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Subcommittee on Health and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Wait Times for Veterans Scheduling Health Care Appointments written by Carrie M. Farmer and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Testimony presented before the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on September 21, 2022.