Veterans Health Administration Analysis
Nathan R. Dennis
Western Governors University A) Organization and its objectives
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is an executive division of the U.S. federal government responsible for programs and policies to veterans and their families. It was established in 1989 in which it succeeded the Veterans Administration formed in 1930. By the same token, the VA also operates a medical care program that includes nursing homes, clinics, and medical centers. Located in West Palm Beach, Florida, the veteran health administration medical center is a teaching hospital that provides a full range of patient care services, with state of the art technology; as well as, education and limited
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The network spans a vast 64,153-mile area that is home to 1.6 million veterans. It has eight large VA hospitals and more than 55 clinics in Florida, South Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2013, 546,874 Veterans made nearly 8 million visits throughout the VISN 8 facilities. To return to the subject, the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center has a comprehensive healthcare in which it provides through primary care and long-term care in the area of dentistry, extended care, medicine, neurology, oncology, pharmacy, physical medicine, psychiatry, rehabilitation and surgery. Additionally, it also operates a Blind Rehabilitation Center, which is the referral center to blind and visually impaired Veterans from throughout the state of Florida. Its mission is to provide easily accessible, quality, compassionate healthcare for eligible Veterans through services at its main campus and its six community based …show more content…
Florida VA hospitals are among the busiest in the nation. Access can be an issue for non-emergency care, and in some cases, these delays have reportedly resulted in harm to patients. In 2012, West Palm Beach VA Medical Center served 64,358 veterans since they have opened the medical center in 1995 in which it was projected to serve 30,000. Outpatient visits totaled a record of 689,662 and 7,417 inpatient discharges. Since WPB VAMC opening, it has had a 66 percent increase in staffing to help meet the needs of Veterans. During my time at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center, I have spent seven months assisting in the director’s office as a program support. I helped with patient advocacy issues on as a needed basis and also helped with pulling data collection, tracking, analysis and reporting. In fiscal year 2013, there was an 11% increase in the number of Veterans served by Telehealth. VA Telehealth services use health informatics, disease management and telehealth technologies to target care and case management to improve access to care with the intent to providing the right care in the right place at the right time. Further, as the numbers of veterans served by Telehealth grown so did the amount of complaints to access or timeliness in which there was a 12% increase. For example, in medical administrative services, phone calls were not returned or letters were not
organizations and facilities dedicated to providing care to veterans across the country. It is a
The Miami VA Healthcare System serves Veterans in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties and operates a total of 372 hospital beds (US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, n.d.). Since the VA system is owned and run by the federal government, audit requirements in order to provide dietary and nutrition care services in the inpatient, outpatient or long term care setting are different compared to private sector hospitals. Hospitals and health care organizations get accreditation from the Joint Commission in order to meet federal requirements and get payment from Medicare and Medicaid programs (The Joint Commission, n.d.). However, since the Miami VA Healthcare System is a government organization and at a higher level is not required to do so (M. De La Cera, personal communication, January 12, 2017). Nevertheless, the Miami VA requests unannounced visits from The Joint Commission every three years to monitor and strengthen their performance excellence as well as keep their ongoing commitment to the safety and quality care of their patients (Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, 2016). Furthermore, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) conducts unannounced onsite reviews of the Community Living Center (CLC) to review processes and procedures. Inspectors from AHCA seek
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was founded in 1930, and today, “operates one of the largest health care delivery systems in the nation, with 168 medical centers and more than 1,000 outpatient facilities organized into regional networks” (GAO, 2017). The VA employs nearly 350,000 people at its facilities and serves approximately 9 million veterans each year (VA, 2017).
They claimed Iraq and Afghanistan veteran polls have been taken, it shows that whatever improvements and actions being were taken were not enough. Fifty-nine percent of the people rated the job the government was doing to help was good, while fifty-six percent rated it as them doing poorly. In an article by CNN news nineteen veterans have died because of delays for medical treatments from the Veterans Affair. Those nineteen veterans were only a small proportion of that group. A number of eight-two veterans who have died because of delays for medical treatments like colonoscopies or endoscopies. Some people like my father (Jason McLain), who is a retired veteran, believes that some doctors have their own personal bias toward veterans. Jason McLain stated, “When I go to the VA they do not help me as soon as I need their help. Although when I go to any other civilian doctor’s office they help me right away with any of their help”. A website by the name of Free Grants Community stated that success and failures of the Departments of Veterans Affair are frequently the subjects of political promises and debates. There are many places that can help with benefits or homelessness, simply anything veteran(active/retired) need. A six-year veteran stated that there are places to help but emphasizes that you have to pursue yourself. After you are done with the military to go back to school and to keep getting educated. Besides the fact the regular ordinary citizens complain that veterans are not getting enough help, there have been complaints against all employers for discrimination has blames the economic crisis and ballooning deficits for the inability to provide for more
VBA administers a wide variety of benefit programs authorized by Congress including Vocational rehabilitation and employment, Education service and GI Bill, Loan guarantee, Service-connected disability compensation, VA pension and fiduciary services, and VA life insurance. The following organizational chart depicts the current structure of the Veterans Benefits Administration. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) serves the Veteran population and is responsible for providing a wide range of medical services by providing inpatient and outpatient care to 5.5 million veterans across the United States and its territories. The VHA operates one of the largest networks of health care facilities in the world. It includes 171 medical centers, 800+ outpatient clinics, 127 nursing homes and 196 Vietnam Veterans Outreach Centers. As well as, domiciliary residences, home health services, adult day care, residential care and respite care programs. In addition, the VHA helps support veterans' health care in non-VA hospitals (Choice Program) and is the country’s largest provider of graduate medical education. The following organizational chart depicts the current structure of the Veterans Health Administration. The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) provides burial space for Veterans and their eligible family members; maintains national cemeteries; marks Veterans’ graves with headstones, markers, and medallions; and administers grants for establishing or expanding state and tribal government Veteran cemeteries. The following organizational chart depicts the current structure of the National Cemetery
The Veterans Health Administration is home to the United States’ largest integrated health care system consisting of 150 medical centers, nearly 1,400 community-based outpatient clinics, community living centers, Vet Centers and Domiciliary. Together these health care facilities and the more than 53,000 independent licensed health care practitioners who work within them provide comprehensive care to more than 8.3 million Veterans each year. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of the medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision
The VA System needs a complete over all we are doing a terrible disservices to our veteran’s.
One of the most serious problems facing all veterans today is the lack of proper healthcare. Soldiers, sailors and airmen are leaving active duty without having proper healthcare to cover their physical or mental injuries. The department responsible for veteran’s healthcare is the Department of Veterans Affairs. (VA) According to The department of Veterans Affairs website, “The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is responsible for administering programs of veterans’ benefits for veterans, their families, and survivors. The benefits provided include disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance, vocational
Service Delivery – VA provides the vast quality and accessibility of primary care, specialized care, related medical and social benefits through a nationwide network for Veterans and their eligible beneficiaries.
One of the most serious problems facing all veterans today is the lack of proper healthcare. Soldiers, sailors and airmen are leaving active duty without having proper healthcare to cover their physical or mental injuries. The department responsible for veteran’s healthcare is the Department of Veterans Affairs. (VA) According to The department of Veterans Affairs website, “The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a government-run military veteran benefit system with Cabinet-level status. It is responsible for administering programs of veterans’ benefits for veterans, their families, and survivors. The benefits provided include disability compensation, pension, education, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation, survivors’ benefits, medical benefits and burial benefits. It is administered by the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.” The VA, who was formerly called the Veterans Administration, was established 21 July 1930, to consolidate and coordinate government activities affecting war veterans. The VA encompassed the functions of the former U.S. Veterans ' Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department and the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. On 25 October 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating a new federal Cabinet-level Department of Veterans Affairs to replace the Veterans Administration effective 15 March 1989 (V.A.)
The VA (Veterans Affair) Health Care System is one of the largest, most advanced health care networks in the U.S. The VA Health Care System is the provider for veterans, retirees and their dependents and manages all their health care. The VA Health Care is actually one part of the Department of Veterans Affairs. There is also VA Benefits Administration which has to do with compensations and pensions. Then the other part of the VA is the National Cemetery Administration which is in charge of the cemeteries and providing burial and memorial benefits. All these parts make up the Department of Veterans Affairs. (VA History)
According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, there are more than 1,500 locations to receive treatment and care across the country, which divides up to approximately 30 locations per state. The lack of locations may limit some veterans from receiving the care they desire. “Veterans who utilize VA services have worse health status that the general population” (Nelson, Taylor, Lurie, Escarce, McFarland, & Finn, 2011). This implies that the services offered are not sufficient enough to meet the needs of veterans. According to Jack Downing, President and CEO of Soldier On, “Seventy percent of veterans drive twenty-five miles or more to a VA facility.” These facts prove that we need more access for veterans so that they can get the
The Department of Veterans Affairs runs a total of 128 Veterans Hospitals in the United States. Which is a good start coming from the Naval home hospital in 1812 and that may seem like a lot but you have to realize that is less than three per state and there is an estimated twenty three million veterans now, which means you
The VA website http://www.va.org has an array of everything and anything needed to understand benefits that are available. The
Service Delivery – VA provides a broad range of the quality and accessibility of primary care, specialized care, related medical and social benefits through a nationwide network for Veterans and their eligible beneficiaries, such as vocational rehabilitation, service members' group life insurance, traumatic injury protection, the Post-9/11 GI-Bill, the VA home loan programs, and