In May 2014, former VA Secretary Shinseki directed the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to complete a nation-wide Access Audit to ensure a full understanding of VA’s policy among scheduling staff, identify any inappropriate scheduling practices used by employees regarding Veteran preferences for appointment dates, and review waiting list management. The purpose of the initiative was to strengthen access to care in the VA system, while also ensuring flexibility to use private sector care when needed in accordance with VA guidelines.

As directed by the White House, the VHA identified Veterans across the VA who experience wait times that do not meet Veterans expectations for timeliness. The VA has begun contacting and scheduling these Veterans for care in VA clinics or arranging for care in the community, while simultaneously addressing the underlying issues that impede Veterans’ access to the VHA system.

In addition to the Access Audit process, the VA also gathered additional data from each VA medical facility. This data includes: number of appointments scheduled at each facility; number of requested appointments that are on each facility’s Electronic Wait List (EWL); number of newly enrolled patients who have not yet been scheduled to see a doctor at a VA facility; and Average Wait Times for Mental Health, Primary Care, and Specialty Care appointments at each facility, for both new and established patients. Continue reading “Veterans Health Administration’s Access to Care Initiative” →

As standard protocol, the military routinely issued a series of inoculations against infectious diseases to all military traveling to the Middle East (to include yellow fever, typhoid, cholera, hepatitis B, meningitis, whooping cough, polio, and tetanus.)

Anthrax: About 150,000 troops were vaccinated with the Anthrax vaccine, which was a series of six shots administered to protect against the infectious bacterial used in biological warfare. Once inside the body, the spores replicate and produce three different proteins; it is the combination of these proteins that doctors believe cause tissue damage, shock, and death.

Botulinum toxoid (BT): About 8,000 troops were vaccinated with the BT vaccine to protect against exposure to extremely poisonous botulinum toxins. Most individuals experience only local side effects often associated with many types of vaccinations. These effects, primarily at the injection site, include local pain, tenderness, swelling, redness, and itching. Systemic reactions such as temporary fever, tiredness, headache, or muscle pain also can occur as well as development of a lump at the injection site that generally resolves within several weeks. Continue reading “Vaccinations and Gulf War Veterans” →