U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, recently introduced legislation that would allow the Department Of Veterans Affairs to view the schedules of healthcare providers participating in the veterans community care program and schedule appointments for care and services in real time. This legislation would enable the VA to expand its use of the external provider scheduling program to schedule community care appointments within the veterans integrated service network and help reduce the time it takes for appointments to be scheduled.
Moran says he’s been monitoring the rollout of the program and is encouraged by what he sees. He adds that vets should e able to access the care they need as quickly and as close to home as possible, and, this legislation will enable the VA to move forward with this important program to increase access to timely care for veterans everywhere.
In the first two of three planned phases, the external provider scheduling program has led community care scheduling to become 65% faster, and scheduler productivity has increased from seven appointments a day to more than 20.
