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Saturday, May 18, 2024

Only 1 newly enrolled VA New Mexico HCS patient seeks medical appointment in February 2020

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The VA New Mexico Health Care System in Albuquerque reported that one patient newly enrolled in its benefits program requested appointments but had not received one during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

During that same time frame, the system scheduled 89,319 pending appointments across its 15 healthcare facilities.

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 don’t have service-connected disabilities and who earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

VA New Mexico Health Care System in Albuquerque Pending Appointments Scheduled in March
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Albuquerque, NM (Raymond G. Murphy)67,47758,2929,185
Las Vegas, NM98194932
Artesia, NM1,6321,55181
Farmington, NM2,5722,371201
Silver City, NM84982623
Gallup, NM1,4041,115289
Espanola, NM1,007825182
Truth or Consequences, NM8118038
Alamogordo, NM1,6921,61181
Durango, CO1,8141,79816
Santa Fe, NM2,6742,59381
Northwest Metro, NM5,4085,017391
Taos, NM85882236
Raton, NM1401355
Source: U.S. Veteran’s Administration

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