In order to improve quality of care for the nation’s veterans, legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) on Tuesday would create an annual survey to gauge veterans’ experiences with health care they’ve received from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA medical providers.
Under the Survey Our Service Members Act, an independent organization would be enlisted to collect information about veterans’ experiences with scheduling medical appointments, wait times for care, cost of care and overall quality of care.
“My office recently conducted a survey of veterans in my district to get insight on their health care experiences, including with scheduling appointments and overall quality of care, and the responses were very insightful,” Rice said.
Rice’s office partnered with the University Of South Carolina’s Institute for Public Service and Policy Research (IPSPR) on the survey of veterans in his district. Eighty-two percent of survey respondents had received care at a non-VA facility in the last two years, and most rated care at non-VA facilities as “somewhat better” or “much better” than VA care.
“By making this a nationwide survey, more veterans will have their voices heard and we can use their feedback to help provide veterans with the care they deserve,” Rice said.
The survey also found that 25 percent of respondents had to contact the VA two to five times to schedule an appointment. After an appointment was scheduled, 13 to 31 percent of veterans were seen within a week, and 26 to 46 percent of veterans had to wait longer than a month.