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Thursday, November 21, 2024

VA reports increase in number of February appointments scheduled at VA San Diego HCS health facility

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The VA San Diego Health Care System, subsidiary 664BY in San Diego, California scheduled 11,298 pending appointments in February compared to 10,737 during the same period last year, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments this February, 10,313 had a wait time of 30 days or less (91.3%) and 985 appointments (8.7%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019, reported that wait times for new appointments at VA health care facilities were similar or better to wait times at private-sector providers between 2014 and 2017.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, released a report in July 2019 that cautioned that the VA's data-tracking system only captures part of the appointment process and fails to account for the time that it takes the VA to enroll veterans in its health benefits program.

At a hearing before the House Veterans Affairs Committee after the report was released, Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, said new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains on its website that when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to 1 of 8 priority groups, with those who need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who do not have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

VA San Diego Health Care System - 664BY Appointments Scheduled in February 2020 vs. February 2019

Facility Code
Location
Total Appointments Scheduled in February 2020
Total Appointments Scheduled in February 2019
Percent change in number of appointments
664
San Diego
62,366
54,457
14.5%
664BY
San Diego
11,298
10,737
5.2%
664GA
El Centro
1,429
887
61.1%
664GB
Oceanside
17,644
13,633
29.4%
664GC
Chula Vista
4,235
3,758
12.7%
664GD
Escondido
1,679
2,360
-28.9%
664QA
San Diego
449
439
2.3%
Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration

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