{"id":29697,"date":"2019-10-04T00:00:12","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/outpatient-health-care-services-for-veterans-3\/"},"modified":"2024-01-08T11:13:18","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T16:13:18","slug":"outpatient-health-care-services-for-veterans","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/our-solutions\/customer-experience\/y2019\/outpatient-health-care-services-for-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"Outpatient Health Care Services for Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This customer experience profile is from 2019. To view this year\u2019s profile, click here<\/a>.<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Department of Veterans Affairs has undertaken a concerted effort during the past several years to change its culture to better serve veterans in the largest integrated health care system in the United States. In the wake of highly publicized accounts of long wait times for care and difficulties locating information on websites, the department has placed increased emphasis on improving the customer experience for veterans. <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Veterans Affairs has undertaken a concerted effort during the past several years to change its culture to better serve veterans in the largest integrated health care system in the United States. In the wake of highly publicized accounts of long wait times for care and difficulties locating information on websites, the department has placed increased emphasis on improving the customer experience for veterans.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, the VA established a central veterans experience office that has helped the Veterans Health Administration launch a major effort to improve its online and in-person customer experience. This office, in partnership with the VHA, has enhanced inpatient and outpatient services at the 1,200 facilities that serve more than more than 9 million veterans each year. Taking its efforts a step further, in 2019 the VA also incorporated customer experience principles into its core values and regulations, highlighting its priority to improve how veterans experience VA services.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the past few years, the VA has cut wait times for appointments at its medical centers, consolidated hundreds of its websites into one and provided volunteers to help veterans find their way around medical facilities. And in 2016, the VHA began offering same-day access to emergency mental health care at all its medical centers.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Average wait times at VHA hospitals dropped by nearly five days during a three-year period, according to a 2019 study published in JAMA, an international peer-reviewed general medical journal, whose authors included current and former VA officials. In 2017, the average wait time to see a provider was 17.7 days, down from 22.5 days in 2014. That is 12 days shorter than wait times for appointments at private sector medical offices, which averaged 29.8 days in 2017, according to the study.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To improve the online experience, the department in 2018 merged hundreds of VA websites and redesigned its VA.gov website, basing the changes on extensive user testing and human-centered design. The redesigned websites provide clearer and more accessible information on a range of veterans\u2019 needs, including how to apply for VA health care, according to our review of selected web pages.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The focus on the customer experience likely contributed to an improvement in how veterans who went to a VA health care facility perceive the department. In September 2019, 88% of veterans said they \u201ctrust the VA for their health care needs\u201d when responding to an outpatient health care survey, up from 85% two years earlier.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department still has work to do on ensuring veterans can access care quickly, particularly specialty medical services provided by either the VHA or community providers outside the VA system, according to outpatient health care surveys.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veterans may soon experience advances in access to care due to the VA Mission Act of 2018, which focuses on consolidating and streamlining how veterans receive care from community providers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Service Overview<\/strong>
Key Services<\/p>\n\n\n\n