Unified System
Earlier this year, veterans gathered at the community based outpatient clinic in Alexandria, MN, for a “coffee talk” to discuss changes to VA care and how best to use their benefits. Overall, satisfaction with VA care is up, according to a VFW survey. Photo from VAntage Point blog.
A primary area of focus for the VA has been coordinating the experience of care for veterans. “Whether a veteran chooses direct VA care of community care, we want them to have one unified experience. Progress toward that goal is what you see in the VFW survey,” MacDonald said.
The VA started aggressively managing the interaction with community partners and internal staff in the lead-up to the launch of MISSION Act. The department stood up a joint operation center, a command center, that facilitated communication among VA facilities, the central office, subject matter experts in the field and direct patient care providers with twice a day meetings initially.
The operations center continues to “regularly look at data across the system to ensure we’re hearing feedback from frontline staff so they can server veterans to the best of their ability,” MacDonald noted. In addition, the group monitors social media, call center reports, communication from community veteran engagement boards, and direct veteran interaction to incorporate veteran feedback into initiative design and operations.
As part of unifying the veteran experience, the VA has enhanced interstate telehealth services to provide expertise to veterans in rural areas through the Anywhere-to-Anywhere initiative. “We’re partnering with organizations like the [Federal Communications Commission] to promote connectedness and, where internet access is a challenge, engaging new organizations such as telecommunication providers to offer free connectivity to veterans engaging in telehealth visits,” MacDonald explained.
The telehealth program enables veterans to choose whether they want to schedule visits in person, by video or telephone and allows providers to care for patients wherever they are. In 2019, more than 900,000 veterans used the service for more than 2.6 million visits, the VA reported.
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