Disabled Veterans Give VA High Marks for Quality, But Timely Access a Problem

Disabled Veterans Give VA High Marks for Quality, But Timely Access a Problem

WASHINGTON– A nationwide survey conducted by the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) has found that its members who use the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical system generally give high marks to the quality of care they received, but timely access remains a problem for some.

The VA received an overall quality rating of 8.13 on a 10- point scale, with pharmacy services, used by the greatest number of veterans, receiving a higher score than any other VA service (8.7). Quality ratings for other VA services include specialty care, 8.2; inpatient care, 8.1; outpatient care, 8.0; emergency care, 7.8; and urgent care, 7.8.

“Based on what the veterans who use the VA health care system are telling us, there is no question that they receive good quality care,” said DAV Washington Headquarters Executive Director David W. Gorman. “The major problem is timely access caused by a lack of resources and a growing patient workload.”

DAV members, having disabilities related to their military service, have priority for care at the VA for their conditions and are frequent users of the system.

Just 14 percent of respondents gave the VA a quality rating of 5 or less for primary outpatient or inpatient care. Nearly 19 percent who received VA provided emergency and urgent care gave the VA a rating of 5 or less.

Approximately 13 percent of DAV members who received specialty care through the VA gave it a quality rating of 5 or less. Respondents said they often had to wait months to receive specialty products such as hearing aids, dentures, and eye glasses.

Appointment waiting times were a major factor in those lower ratings. Having to travel some distance to a VA facility was the second biggest complaint.

Survey respondents reported they waited almost 38 days for VA outpatient primary care appointments, with one in five reporting waiting times of more than 60 days. Waiting times for VA inpatient care were shorter, averaging 24.8 days, with 8.6 percent of veterans saying they waited longer than 60 days.

The VA’s goal for waiting times is 30 days or less for medical appointments across all categories.

DAV members in the Southeast reported both longer average wait times and higher percentages that waited longer than 60 days to receive primary outpatient care at VA facilities. Respondents in the Midwest and Eastern states reported better than average scores on both these measures.

The average wait time for VA inpatient care was highest (31.3 days) in the region serving veterans in California and Nevada. In the network serving Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, veterans reported waiting an average of 29.5 days for VA provided inpatient care. Veterans in the region were more than twice as likely as those elsewhere to wait two months or longer for VA hospital care, however.

DAV members have more frequently used VA services for primary care and specialty care and non-VA provided services for inpatient care and emergency or urgent care. This suggests that members will use VA services when care can be planned or scheduled, yet use non-VA services for those instances where immediate and convenient care is essential. Distance to VA facilities may also be a factor in these findings, researchers said.

More than 34 percent of veterans surveyed live 50 miles or more from a VA medical center, while just 16 percent live that far away from an outpatient clinic.

Most veterans also said they were treated with respect by physicians and nurses, but some said that other VA staff are often insensitive or outright rude.

“Doctors and nurses scored well on how well they listen to veterans and understand their needs,” said Gorman. “And ensuring that other staff treat them with respect and courtesy is something that can readily be corrected by VA administrators.”

The survey was conducted for the DAV by The Princeton Research Group, Inc., a New Jersey based marketing research firm. Surveys were mailed out last fall to a random sample of DAV members living in each of the 21 VA regional networks. More than 11,600 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 22 percent.

The 1.2 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non- profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nation’s wartime disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation’s disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organization’s Web site http://www.dav.org. The final report of the survey can be accessed there.