OPINION

Veterans need better health-care data now

Poughkeepsie Journal Editorial Board

The Department of Veterans Affairs has a completely overwhelming, difficult job, partially because this country at times has devoted too little thought and plenty of resources into waging wars without considering the true ramifications to those sent to fight these costly, drawn-out conflicts.

And, yes, the VA has compounded the problems through mismanagement and outrageous decisions made by administration officials over the years. Most recently, it was learned the department quietly stopped sharing information that enables veterans to make better decisions regarding where to seek care. There can be absolutely no excuses for these egregious lapses.

The VA had been sharing information regarding the quality of care at its facilities with a national database for consumers. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Department of Health and Human Services keeps the information on a website. Yet, in typical bureaucratic fashion, the VA stopped providing the data after the two agencies could not work out a new deal governing the sharing of information. They are assuring the public they are working on an agreement but, really, how could this get this far?

A few years ago, a griping investigation found that dozens of veterans died awaiting care while some facilities were actually covering up these deficiencies. Congress then passed the “Choice Act,” allowing veterans to get health care at private facilities if they couldn’t get timely appointments at their local VA facility.

Veterans are supposed to be able to see pertinent facts, such as death and readmission rates and other measures of quality for public and private hospitals around the country, including national averages. The VA also has been struggling to provide more user-friendly information that is supposed to provide side-by-side quality comparisons of its hospitals.

Veterans are already dealing with enough red tape and, at times, long waits for care. After tens of thousands of troops were sent off to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, it’s no wonder the VA has been unable to handle the care of so many returning soldiers, many of whom had multiple tours of duty and are dealing with complicated cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Veterans who bravely served this country and are facing anguish in their return home shouldn’t be forced to deal with such a broken system. The information, under a new and improved format, must start flowing again at once.

In this February photo, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald speaks in Washington. Two years after a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care, the Department of Veterans Affairs is still struggling to deliver health care to millions of veterans and give them pertinent information about care facilities. 
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