V.A. Wait Times Now Shorter Than for Private Doctors

As someone who worked as a contractor in very many VA medical centers and clinics across the country, and who now works with commercial/private hospital clients, my experience has been that care in the VA is better and more efficient than that of private healthcare on many dimensions. Read the book "Best Care Anywhere" by Philip Longman. Many criticisms of the VA come from people who have never been in one or are just parroting ideology. The wait times scandal was a real scandal, I worked with an exec in the VA who was indicted for it. So any wait time data from the VA should be considered with a measure of doubt. Not saying the numbers in this article are unreliable, it's hard to know. Look up the OIG report about the scandal; the percentage of employees in the VA asked to do dishonest/unethical things was atrocious - upwards of 50% at some sites, and common at most sites (the median seemed to be in the 20-30% range). The lack of accountability among VA management is the worst I have ever seen or heard of in any industry. I have very little positive to say about President Trump, but he should be applauded for at least shedding a bit of light on the problem, if not trying to improve it. That said, the good people I met working at the VA, including in management, easily outnumbered the bad apples. I've yet to see a good argument for privatizing it. The VA should be improved, not dismantled, and management should be held accountable for unethical and dishonest behavior.

My husband went to a VA ER on Oct 26 in a PTSD-fueled crisis. He desperately needed to talk to someone from mental health. We were told there was no one from mental health there on nights or weekends, and the only options they gave him were to: A.) be admitted and basically tranquilized until his dr got in on Monday, or… B.) take home a bottle of "in the meantime" pills and wait for the 1st available psych appt He was afraid if I left him at the VA alone over the weekend, he might have done something stupid. Instead, they sent him out the door with 24 Valium, and the 1st available appt we would later find out would be Jan 14. 80 days later. I got a call on Dec. 4 saying if we didn’t mind changing drs, he could be seen sooner. Great! I told them we didn’t care, we just wanted 1st available, and we had already been waiting since Oct. She then offered Jan 9, saving me only 5 days. How is 75 days more acceptable than 80? It also makes me wonder if canceling the original appointment and scheduling a new one restarted the clock, so to speak? Did they claim he only had to wait 38 days from the date of the reschedule to the actual appointment date we ended up taking on the 11th? But even then, how is making a veteran who showed up at the E.R. begging for help wait OVER A MONTH to see the “first available” psychiatrist okay by ANYBODY’S standards? Here’s 24 Valium. Good luck making it to your appointment in 80 days. Is there any wonder why we have a veteran suicide problem?

This is another victory for President Trump. He spoke often of this issue and the voters will remember it even the progressive coatal media refuse to link him to anything that has gotten better - including our historic jobs-rich economy.

Another hint that privatizing VA care is a really bad idea. Instead, why don't we VA-ize private care, i.e. use a system of national insurance for all?

I have seen with my own eyes that the private sector is deteriorating, especially in states that did not expand their Medicaid programs under the ACA. (This article also notes that in "some" geographic areas, particularly in the South, "longer wait times persist" in VA hospitals as well.) But this study relies on VA data, which is always wrong, and much as I would like to, I just can't believe that VA wait times overall have decreased as much as claimed. And the fact that former VA secretary Shulkin was the senior author makes me doubt it even more.

This "fact" reflects more dissipation in the private section not improvement in the VA;if it is true.

My Vietnam vet husband goes to the Illiana VA in Danville Il. He receives prompt, excellent, courteous care. The staff there are wonderful. They are professional and welcoming. We are so grateful.

My husbands a 100% Vietnam Veteran. We’ve used the VA since 1975. In the last 2 years his health due to wounds and age is deteriorating. We were denied an appt to see VVA Cardio when he became symptomatic with his 2nd HA even though primary wanted him seen He had to wait 8 months for VA Urology to remove a stent in his right kidney. Due to this delay in care he had to under go 2 high risk surgeries. His right kidney no longer functions and he’s in stage 3-4 kidney failure, We are only allowed to see Nephrology once every 6 months. A student is who we see. Not a fellow but a new student. We also can’t see endocrinology any more than every 6 months even though he’s a brittle diabetic and has been for decades Our ER has an unbelievable wait time and calls paramedics when it’s a serious health issue We like our VA and we like our primary care. But we can’t just get an emergency same day visit w him. This VA run study” just doesn’t ring true and will only anger most Veterans

I am eternally grateful for the treatment I've received and continue to receive with the VA. The quality of care I get at the clinic in Golden CO is top notch. I have nothing but good things to say and I get tired of the knee jerk reactions from people who criticize the system while knowing nothing about it.

I'm ecstatic with the quality of service and timeliness of my HMO, Kaiser Permanent. (reviewer, if needed remove the HMO name). I can usually get an appointment with my principal care physician in one to three days. Urgent care is available whenever needed. Under this HMO I've had non emergency quad bypass surgery performed on fairly short notice by a well known and highly qualified surgeon. Today I had cataract surgery performed at the HMO in surgical like suits. In addition to the doctor, three other staff were present and assisting. After returning home, the surgeon called to affirm everything was OK. My primary care physician (PCP)is the best doctor I've ever had. To explain why would take to many words. I'm an old white guy seventy six year old. My PCP is a youngish African American women. The first time I met her she was substituting for my regular PCP. Halfway through our session she looked at me and said I had "the look". A batch of tests and ten days later I had quad bypass . I can't imagine medicine being any better than this.

I am proud and pleased to list my doctor at the VA Clinic in Greenville SC as my primary care physician. With my health insurance I could pick any physician, but at the Greenville VA Clinic I get in faster, they are more thorough, they take all the time needed and never rush me out the door. The lab work is done there, and I got hearing aids this year — all at no expense to me as a military retiree with a disability rating. If the Greenville VA Clinic is at all typical of the VA system as this article suggests, then the VA has been getting a bad rap and is undeserving of the criticism it receives.

I have a PCP who does only same day scheduling. You call in the morning, and if there is space left for the day, you get to see him, whether for a physical, an illness, or an injury that he can treat. They will fit you in if it’s truly urgent; otherwise, you call the next morning. Since I had him, I’ve wondered why more doctors didn’t use this method (similar to Urgent Care centers). Clearly, with surgeries and suchlike, the physician needs to coordinate facilities, but for most things, say follow-up to a broken leg, this method has been marvelous.

Working as a mental health professional in VA, there are many times that veterans come to us from the private sector because we can usually see them for initial appointment in 1-2 weeks, sometimes same day, due to our planning, and they have been told that it would be a minimum of a month or more in the private sector, and likely 90 days or longer. A recent nursing conference at Mayo informed the attendees that they were hoping to get their access with a psychiatrist somewhat sooner than the 90 day or more they were having about 6-8 months ago. Yes, VA should NOT be privatized. a number of my colleagues in the private sector don't understand veterans and their particular complex needs, and don't want to see veterans expand their already heavy caseloads.

The VA has it's problems with timely provision of service which is NOT unique to the VA. Of course it should be monitored, and improved. BUT The attacks from the GOP side are about ginning up anger and using that to justify privatization. period

My questions would be how they addressed "facility cancels" in the data and if they made sure to determine how often cancellations by patients was inappropriately entered rather than "facility cancel". Without that being addressed the study would have a significant flaw.

And yet we are hearing the opposite all the time. The VA is one government health program that has been spectacularly successful and cost effective.

The Trump administration is working to privatize the VA and send VA patients to private physicians. This is how you make American Great Again by not knowing anything! "by 2017, mean wait time at V.A. hospitals had gone down to 17.7 days, while rising to 29.8 for private practitioners.