The VA responded to the report by explaining steps it has taken so far to improve access to care as well as to outline how it would enact the IG’s recommendations.
According to the VA, following the release of the IG’s interim report, the department scheduled about 200,000 new appointments between May 15 and June 15. It also said that nearly 912,000 total referrals to non-VA care providers have been made in the last two months (over 190,000 referrals than during the same period in 2013). The department said it has reduced its electronic wait list by 57 percent as well.
“Even before the OIG’s interim report, VA had taken actions to address the issue of patient scheduling and access, working in close concert with Veteran Service Organizations,” said interim under secretary for health, Carolyn Clancy. “We’ve initiated development of a more robust process for continuously measuring patient satisfaction at each site, and will expand our patient satisfaction survey capabilities in the coming year, to capture more veteran experience data through telephone, social media, and online means,” she said.
The VA recently issued a request for proposal for a new scheduling system, and will be undertaking enhancements to the existing system while the new one is being developed. It has mandated that medical center and network directors conduct regular on-site visits of all their clinics, and it removed the unattainable 14-day patient scheduling access measure from performance plans, the department noted.
It also said it has also added primary care to the services that veterans can seek out of the VA network, established an interdisciplinary accountability review team to ensure leadership accountability, and ordered every VA medical center to undergo an independent review.
