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Friday, November 22, 2024

VA Central Arkansas HCS facilities schedule 102,830 medical appointments in March 2021

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The VA Central Arkansas Health Care System Arkansas scheduled 102,830 pending appointments across its locations during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments 92,956 had a wait time of 30 days or less (90.4%) and 9,874 appointments (9.6%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

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

The Government Accountability Office (GAO), however, released a report in July 2019 cautioning 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.

Debra Draper, health care director at the GAO, told the House Veterans Affairs Committee new patients may actually wait up to 70 days for an appointment when they first enroll for benefits.

The VA explains when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to one of eight 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 Central Arkansas Health Care System Pending Appointments Scheduled in March
LocationTotal Appointments ScheduledAppointments Scheduled 30 Days or LessAppointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
Little Rock, AR (John L. McClellan)41,23935,0576,182
North Little Rock, AR (Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center)32,93530,8422,093
Mountain Home, AR4,6784,509169
El Dorado, AR2,2222,20913
Hot Springs, AR6,8836,532351
Mena, AR1,0009946
Pine Bluff, AR2,1822,067115
Searcy, AR3,8213,77546
Conway, AR5,7075,053654
Russellville, AR2,1631,918245

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