Military Update Summary

It requires a deep imagination to put a body back together when there are only bits and pieces are left. The V.A. is not just about the physical well-being, but the mental well-being of the military personnel. As Phillip Longhorn has made his argument for keeping the V.A. intact, for a multitude of reasons, the mental health, the general care for veterans and extreme increase in money paid to private outfits. Given the fact that PTSD is now a well-known illness, mental health is half the battle of a veteran. Longhorn stated the V.A. had an over 30% superior rating, compared to any private mental health facility. When the V.A. provides exceptional treatment, it seems silly to send veterans to a less qualified facility. Especially when the therapists and doctors cater to PTSD. As we move to the general health of a veteran, the RAND study, gave a close look at the unique capabilities of the V.A. has to offer, and the rating of the care taken of the patients. In just about every aspect, wellness, eyes, diabetes out performs independent and private outfits. If the V.A. were to privatized, it would dismantle a medical relationship that lasts almost a life time. But it would also cause different havoc like sky rocketing costs to the V.A. that

Most of the VA’s strengths can be attributed to the advancement of medicine, technologies, and research. The integration and collaboration of web-based services throughout VA’s facilities has led to an increase in “speed, accuracy and efficiency of information exchange” (Department of Veteran Affairs, 2015). With those strengths, the VA is able to further improve upon veteran’s access to health care and the ways in which services can be delivered.

Current funding for veteran healthcare care is low and insufficient because of the large number of veterans, who are being discharged from the military as the country transitions to a democratic President. According to Dr. Rachel Nardin in her article about veteran healthcare, “Soldiers get excellent acute care when injured on active duty, but as revelations of poor conditions for soldiers receiving ongoing outpatient care at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center highlighted, service members often have trouble getting the care they need once active duty ends” (Nardin 1)

The acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs (SECVA) is currently Peter O'Rourke. Mr. O'Rourke serves as the interim SECVA following the departure of David Shulkin in early 2018. David Shulkin left the VA amidst an ethics violation, which will be expanded upon in the Leadership Challenges and Issues section. The Veterans Benefits Administration and its subordinate offices provide benefits and associated services to veterans or their surviving family members (Veterans Affairs, 2018). The Veterans Health Administration and its subordinate offices provide health care for the nation's veterans (Veterans Affairs, 2018). The National Cemetary Administration and its subordinate offices provide burial and memorial benefits and cemetery management to the nation's veterans (Veterans Affairs, 2018). This paper will focus mainly on the VA secretary's office and the Veterans Health

The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is responsible for providing vital services to Americas veterans. Such services include health care, benefit programs, and access to national cemeteries to former military personnel and their dependents. In this case well be discussing the health care system and how it pertains to our veterans. The health benefits provided by the VA should serve as ones’ sole source of health care or as a complement to an already existing plan. As with anything it has its pros and cons.

Veterans Affairs is infamous for corruption and public scandals, yet have high rankings of overall patient satisfaction from outside reports. The Congressional Research Service estimates that there are about 21 million veterans in the United States and only 9 million veterans are enrolled in the VA. Only 5 million veterans actually received care during 2014’s fiscal year. “In a given year, not every VA-enrolled veteran receives VA health care services. Some veterans may opt not to seek care during the year, while others may receive care outside the VA system, paying for care using private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, the military health system”

In the United States, Veteran’s health care at an economical rate is a continuous debate. It is warranted that the health care should improve at a constant rate to uphold the health needs of veterans, new and old. Government has the veterans association (VA) and with all the help it has available for veterans there are still times when that care is not enough. There are so many individuals that are without health care because of one reason for another and it leaves many injured and hurt veterans without the care they need and deserve. Better access to health for veterans, men and women is important since many new problems such as PTSD have become better understood and need more focus and to be better

The Department of Veterans Affairs are constantly performing and perfecting innovative services to veterans as they strive to provide quality services in the 21st century to veteran and their families. The Department of Veterans affairs hopes to build their services on the principles of being more person centered toward the care they provide, providing measurable results , and by continuing to look at future services needed for veterans. This paper will examine the challenges, plans, and goals that would need to be in place so that the Department of Veterans Affairs can continue to meet their strategic challenges.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was put under a microscope during the summer of 2014 after the public learned that dozens of veterans died while awaiting medical care in multiple veterans’ hospitals (Andrews, 2014a). After beginning an investigation, it was discovered that veterans were forced to wait exorbitant amounts of time in order to see doctors, specialists, have tests run, and receive other kinds of medical care (Andrews, 2014b). President Barack Obama and Congress took quick action to investigate the claims and provide new legislation to remedy the newfound, but long lasting problems.

Almost 55% of all veterans badly injured while in the service feel the government has not, Provided “all the help they think it should”. Veterans who are receiving poor medical service continue to Challenge the United states by making it difficult for service members and their families to locate the services needed for a successful transition from battlefield to home front. The United States Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Administration must make certain changes before a solution is insight. A few steps to resolve this health care issue would be to commence a new training program and adding to

Countless medically discharged or retired veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom are entering the nation’s healthcare systems in large numbers attempting to seek medical or mental health care. Those that enter find a growing lack of concern for the inadequacy of the administrative system required to process their claims or support their growing addictions to medications prescribed by physicians unprepared for the level of damage sustained in combat. The Veterans Administration is consistently backlogged on both sides of their service departments. The disability and claims division provides a determination of whether a veteran has a service-connected injury and thus entitled to VA health benefits. The VA health care system is overworked and understaffed to provide care to a growing and aging population of veterans.

In May of last year, a fifty-one year old Veteran complained of chest pain during an examination, the VA doctor referred him for testing. Unfortunately a month later he died of heart disease and the test had never been scheduled. The test would have shown, the urgent need for medical attention, preventing his untimely death. This is just one of many cases, were the wait time for medical treatment has affected Veterans and their family negatively. The average time for a Veteran to see his primary care provider for the first time, when switching to the Veteran Affairs Healthcare system, is over ninety days. Since the DoD healthcare system uses different processing procedure, than the Veteran Affairs Healthcare system, many patients are unable to get continued healthcare. In many cases the review of the disability claims package takes too long. Even though the Inspector General of the VA has called for a fourteen day target time frame for scheduled appointments, there has been little improvement. During a recent probe it has come to light, that wait times are nationwide falsified. In order to meet the “performance targets”, various administrative techniques concealed the longer wait (Slack).

The Bush’s administration launched the definition and testing of a strategic national agenda for HIE in 2004. President Bush had confidence in creating a better health information technology which was necessary for his vision of a health care system that would put the needs of patients first. “The Institute of Medicine estimates that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die each year from medical errors” (George W. Bush White House Archives; Economic Policy. 2014). By implementing Electronic Health Records (EHR) and the use of Health Information Exchange (HIE), providers can easily access patient’s health information to avoid these medical errors. His plan would change the challenges the U.S. health care system faced.

In some cases, the unpreparedness of most physicians to use new technologies, may raise another problem. This would be difficult when attempting to meaningfully use the system properly. A great way to leverage EHR to improve quality is to achieve meaningful use. For example, “the emergence of electronic health records (EHRs) also is complicating organizational efforts to define and disclose information [3].” By implementing and putting EHRs into action, it will benefit providers not just financially but also by reducing medical errors, and increasing the availability of records and data. The 2016 Report to Congress on HIT Progress stated that “many health care providers still face challenges accessing and viewing individuals’ electronic health information for a variety of reasons, including confusion about privacy and security considerations, cumbersome enrollment processes, or complex contracts with technology vendors [6].” Furthermore, meaningful use also elevates in legal issues, such as privacy threats on patients and data breaches. These may happen because electronic documents and electronic use of medical information could get exposed as they get implemented in health care services. In this case, private information of

In the last decade of USA medical history there have been little to no change in medical errors in regards to improvement of care. Meaningful Use, Electronic Health Records and Health Information Technology are practices and programs that can be possible solutions for this issue. The goals of meaningful use include improving quality, safety, efficiency, and to reduce health disparities, improve care coordination and ensure adequate privacy and security of personal health information (Hoyt,2014). With meaningful use, there are three stages: stage one begins the process of capturing date and sharing the information. Stage two is advancing the data processing and sharing and building off of the first stage. Stage three is the examination of the outcomes. Meaningful Use is defined under the Center of Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and is essentially an incentive program through the government to create a health system that is run electronically and provides higher quality of care through technology. Since the goal is to create safer and higher quality through HIT by providing an incentive for EP’s to further develop their use of the technology there must be a time line in place in order to know whether the Ep’s hitting the requirements. This year, 2014, is originally a major year for Meaningful Use however, with changes in the time line, the cost of HIT, and the increasing of objectives can lead to major complications in the initial timeline created.