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Sunday, May 12, 2024

VA reports decrease in number of January appointments scheduled at VA Southeast Louisiana HCS health facility in Franklin

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The VA Southeast Louisiana Health Care System, subsidiary 629GE in Franklin, Louisiana scheduled 880 pending appointments in January compared to 998 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 January, 867 had a wait time of 30 days or less (98.5%) and 13 appointments (1.5%) 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 Southeast Louisiana Health Care System - 629GE Appointments Scheduled in January 2020 vs. January 2019

Facility Code
Location
Total Appointments Scheduled in January 2020
Total Appointments Scheduled in January 2019
Percent change in number of appointments
629
New Orleans
70,471
66,854
5.4%
629BY
Baton Rouge
15,041
14,213
5.8%
629GA
Houma
4,139
3,040
36.2%
629GB
Hammond
5,520
5,021
9.9%
629GC
Slidell
4,678
4,226
10.7%
629GD
Reserve
1,837
1,826
0.6%
629GE
Franklin
880
998
-11.8%
629GF
Bogalusa
1,422
1,433
-0.8%
629QA
Baton Rouge
3,155
3,268
-3.5%
Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration

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