VA Taps ‘Access Sprints’ to Ramp Up Appointment Availability

After hiring more than 61,000 employees in 2023, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is focusing on improving patient access even more by increasing worker productivity, Federal News Network recently reported.

So-called “access sprints”—which include night and weekend clinics as well as increasing the number of patients individual VA providers see—have been instituted in the areas of cardiology, mental health, and gastroenterology. The number of appointments delivered has increased as a result. “The reason that we’re calling them ‘sprints’ is because we’re not sure what within that discrete effort will be sustainable in the future,” the article quoted VA Under Secretary For Health Shereef Elnahal, MD, as saying during a news briefing. “Some things won’t be sustainable, because we’re basically just putting more appointments into the same clinics. And in some cases, we’ve been able to increase staff. In some cases, we’ve had level staff. And so, our question becomes what’s sustainable for the end, frontline worker who has to bear that increased load, and we’re still figuring that out.”

The article cites unprecedented growth in patient demand for VA health care. Enrollment has grown by 100,000-plus veterans since August 2022 when the PACT Act expanded VA health care for veterans exposed to toxic substances during military service.

Notable enrollment increases have occurred specifically in the Southeastern US, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California, as well as in certain cities, such as Chicago and San Diego, according to the report. The VHA expects an additional 21,000 veterans to enroll under the PACT Act this year.

“In general, being present in the community and letting veterans know across the country that VA is an option for them, I think, has led to an overall increase in enrollments over and above what we would have expected,” Dr Elnahal said in the briefing.

Reference

Heckman J. VHA launches ‘access sprints’ to offer more medical appointments to veterans. Federal News Network. January 22, 2024. Accessed February 29, 2024. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2024/01/vha-launches-access-sprints-to-offer-more-medical-appointments-to-veterans/