Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2016 6:23:31 GMT -5
First of all, when you have seen one VA, you have seen one VA, just like in the private sector. About 18 months ago, a large 2 volume report was published by the Rand and Mitre Corporations comparing the VA to the private sectors, and overall the care in the VA system was at least as good, if not better than the private sector. We talk about appointment access in the VA system, yet the appointment access to care in the VA system is better than in the private sector.
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SSHoya
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown."
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Post by SSHoya on May 24, 2016 7:06:39 GMT -5
First of all, when you have seen one VA, you have seen one VA, just like in the private sector. About 18 months ago, a large 2 volume report was published by the Rand and Mitre Corporations comparing the VA to the private sectors, and overall the care in the VA system was at least as good, if not better than the private sector. We talk about appointment access in the VA system, yet the appointment access to care in the VA system is better than in the private sector. Jerry refers to this report: www.va.gov/opa/choiceact/documents/assessments/integrated_report.pdf. See page 11 "Quality of Care" for summary. VA compares favorably in quality of care compared to non-VA health care. But see the last sentence of that summary where 6 in 10 patients, in patient-centered measures, report significantly less favorable experiences in the VA system compared to the private sector. IMHO, VA healthcare is a mixed bag often dependent upon which VAMC one utilizes. I entered the system via VAMC in Washington many years ago and now registered with the VAMC in Wilimington, DE with access to a CBOC (community based outpatient clinic) twenty miles from my home. My impression is that VAMC-DC is overburdened and Wilmington less busy. My biggest issue was VA on my VIC (Veterans ID Card) mistakenly identified me as an Army vet instead of the Navy (but that does not affect my access to care) and I still get my 10% discount at Home Depot! I enrolled in VA healthcare as a precaution as I enjoy federal health insurance as a retired fed and choose not to further burden the VA system when I have access to private providers. PS My electronic medical records from DC were accessible in Wilmington in an hour. The irony was that VAMC-Wilmington had to use 20th century technology by faxing a hardcopy of a form I had to fill out to VAMC-Washington in order to gain access to my EMR. That left me scratching my head.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2016 7:32:39 GMT -5
One of the problems facing the VA is salaries. The salaries of government employees have been essentially frozen for the past 6 years and so the VA is having a difficult time recruiting. Especially acute is the difficulty in recruiting where VA physicians are paid at a much lower rate than in the private sector. While physicians who have been in the system, say 10 years want to stay so that they don't lose their retirement, new primary care physicians are offered between $150,000 to 160,000, whereas there are ads all over the country for primary care physicians at well over $200,000. SS Hoya makes a good point. Just remember that just like the private sector, not all VAs are the same. Here is a link to an article referencing the report. prospect.org/article/report-va-outperforms-private-sector-key-measures
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hoyainspirit
Platinum Hoya (over 5000 posts)
When life puts that voodoo on me, music is my gris-gris.
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Post by hoyainspirit on May 24, 2016 8:37:49 GMT -5
The VA here in New Orleans did a great job providing care to my WWII veteran uncle, who lived to the ripe old age of 96. He felt the care provided to him was outstanding, FWIW. My friend who lives in DC post Katrina does not speak so well of the VA care there.
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