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Friday, November 1, 2024

19 newly enrolled VA Northern Arizona HCS patients seek medical appointments in August 2019

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The VA Northern Arizona Health Care System reported that 19 patients newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending September 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 26,785 pending appointments across its 12 healthcare facilities.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported that wait times for new appointments at VA health care facilities were similar or better to wait times at private-sector providers between 2014 and 2017.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, released a report in July 2019 that cautioned that the VA’s data-tracking system only captures part of the appointment process and fails to account for the time that it takes the VA to enroll veterans in its health benefits program.

At a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the report was released, Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, said new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to 1 of 8 priority groups, with those who need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

VA Northern Arizona Health Care System Pending Appointments Scheduled in September
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Prescott, AZ (Bob Stump)17,89116,3581,533
Kingman, AZ2,9902,848142
Flagstaff, AZ49944356
Lake Havasu City, AZ3,2033,080123
Anthem, AZ48647511
Cottonwood, AZ1,4461,233213
Chinle, AZ1881880
Holbrook, AZ33321
Page, AZ12111
Tuba City, AZ23230
Polacca, AZ330
Kayenta, AZ11110
Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration

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