ALBUQUERQUE – A team of clinical leaders and administrators were on site at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque on Nov. 14 for an Access Stand Down. This first-ever event was designed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reach out to all veterans waiting for urgent care and to make sure that VA is meeting their health care needs.
We are committed to providing timely access to Veterans as determined by their clinical needs. The Access Stand Down was the culmination of several days of going through patient records and appointments, identifying those with the most urgent needs and contacting those patients. Leading up to the Access Stand Down, staff of the New Mexico VA Health Care System (NMVAHCS) reviewed more than 1,900 patient records to assess the need for more urgent appointments for patients. As a result of the review, NMVAHCS staff determined 40 patients required a more urgent appointment and now will be seen within the next 30 days.
“We strive for all veterans to have safe, high-quality, personalized, and timely care wherever they receive their health services,” said Andrew Welch, NMVAHCS Director.
For a comparison of access data from Fiscal Year 2014 to Fiscal Year 2015, consider the following:
· In October 2014, 86.41% of the appointments were scheduled within 30 days or less
· In October 2015, 93.16% of the appointments were scheduled within 30 days or less
· In October 2014, we had 211 new patients that we could not schedule within 90 days
· In October 2015, we had 148 new patients that we could not schedule within 90 days
Greater access to VA health care can be attributed to the following improvements:
· Administrative improvements in our scheduling processes
· Use of the clinically indicated date, of when the provider wants to see the patient
· Veterans can use the Choice Program if their wait time is greater than 30 days
o Approximately 7,000 veterans are eligible based upon mileage
o Over 4,800 appointments have been made through the Choice Program
“Our efforts to fix the access issues will continue. We will not rest until we fix our system in order to better the health needs of those who need our help most,” Welch added.