Patient Experience Week is an annual event celebrating health care staff who improve the patient experience each and every day. Patient Experience Week provides a focused time for VA to celebrate accomplishments, re-energize efforts, educate employees on patient experience measures and metrics, and honor the people who serve Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.
Patient Experience Week (April 29 to May 5) is a great way to enhance patient and staff relations, increase morale and improve communication.
Patient Experience can mean different things to each Veteran and their family. The big picture is that care and service are delivered in an exceptional and consistent way. At VA, we define patient experience as “the sum of all interactions shaped by the organization’s culture that influence Veterans’ perceptions along their health care journey.”
Patient experience is the organizational alignment of people, processes and culture around the common goal of creating a consistent, exceptional experience for Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors.
Employees deliver timely and high-quality patient experience
This year’s theme, “Own Your Moment,” emphasizes the individual responsibility of VA employees to build Veteran trust during every interaction. VA employees own their moment with Veterans by taking the initiative to deliver timely and high-quality patient experience the VA WAY.
VA’s Veterans Experience Office has taken best practices from across VA and private sector health care to enhance the Veteran patient experience.
Currently, 79.1% of Veterans surveyed said they trust VA overall with 91.5% of Veterans saying they trust VA outpatient health care to take care of them.
“Patient experience isn’t just a program. It’s a way of work life. It’s understanding the moments that matter most to our patients and also to our employees,” said Jennifer Purdy, executive director, Veterans Experience Office Customer Experience Tools and Implementation directorate.
“When we understand what matters, it helps us focus on which areas to improve and to be able to explain the why behind the needed improvement. Measuring our efforts lets us know if the improvements are working, and when they are, it allows us to celebrate and showcase employees delivering excellent patient experience.”
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I recently learned that I was actually living on Agent Orange 8 hours a day for a year on the perimeter of NKP Thailand. So I applied for disability and started the process of being evaluated by VES. My first visit to a VES evaluator had me sit in an office with a guy who hardly looked at me as he just started to type. He constantly typed as he asked a question but never looked up at me as I answered it. He just typed! This went on for about 15 minutes…. I talked and he constantly typed asking a total of two questions. I answered in detail but he just never looked up and just typed! Fast forward to my appeal…… during the phone call the person on the line asked me a question and the next thing I heard was the sound of a keyboard being used. I started to answer the question for several minutes while the person was on the keyboard. After I finished talking I waited for a response from the evaluator….. crickets….. hello.. hello…. nothing but the sound of the keyboard!! She said ‘thank you and you will receive your report in two to three weeks bye’ What the hell!! You guys have to clean up your act! It’s disgusting how so little attention is paid during the interview process!
My counselor quit a few weeks ago. Was the second time for him. Not sure what they are doing but they certainly are running off the doctors that actually listen to us. Guess he was actually practicing patient care and not va care. I wasn’t offered a choice when he left either time. Guess it’s true they only get credit the first time you walk thru the door and not follow up visits.
They do not document what the patient says. That basic assessment is extensive but they only ask one question and often put down something other than the patients health complaint. They don’t want to chart so they gun deck the answers. You should record the conversation, staff might do their job then and be less likely to be unethical.
The irony of this being “Patient Experience Week,” today I got a secure message from my VA psychiatrist that stated “I will not schedule you for any further appointments, take care,” after asking her:
“Yes or no, is the VA willing and able to address my insomnia that has gotten to a breaking point as far as interfering with my ability to function day to day? I appreciate your help, but after 13 years with no improvement, I think I need a higher level of care than what you or anyone else can provide in 30-minute appointments every 8 weeks.”
VA still does not cover every veteran for dental care!
VA Benefits Administration is still not doing their job…
Currently there is a backlog of over four-hundred thousand (400,000) (Beneficiary Travel) paper healthcare claims nationwide.
“Paper healthcare claims” are claims where the VA requires proof of attendance for community care appointments; the BTSSS cannot process attachments.
Proof of attendance is not authorized for collection by OMB as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 USC 3501-3520). OMB control number 2900-0798 expired July 31, 2020.
Proof of attendance is not required by any statue or regulation.
VA travel 101: https://news.va.gov/129612/veteran-travel-101-applying-for-reimbursement/
Travel pay claims made easy: https://news.va.gov/85832/travel-pay-claims-made-easy/
Beneficiary Travel Self Service System (BTSSS): https://dvagov-btsss.dynamics365portals.us/
VA OIG report BTSSS: https://www.vaoig.gov/reports/review/goals-not-met-implementation-beneficiary-travel-self-service-system
Information Collection Request (ICR): Veteran/Beneficiary Claim for Reimbursement of Travel Expenses (VA Form 10–3542 and BTSSS):
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202402-2900-007
(Display additional information by clicking on the following: All)
Emergency OMB PRA Clearance Request Memorandum: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/DownloadDocument?objectID=139655800
Veteran/Beneficiary Claim for Reimbursement of Travel Expenses VA Form 10-3542
OMB Control Number 2900-0798 Supporting Statement A: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/DownloadDocument?objectID=139524500
VETERAN/BENEFICIARY CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF TRAVEL EXPENSES : https://www.va.gov/vaforms/medical/pdf/vha-10-3542-fill.pdf
38 USC 111: https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/38/111
38 CFR 70: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/part-70/subpart-A
Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995 (44USC 3501-3520): https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title44/pdf/USCODE-2011-title44-chap35.pdf
PRA Guide: https://www.opm.gov/about-us/open-government/digital-government-strategy/fitara/paperwork-reduction-act-guide.pdf
New PRA guide: https://pra.digital.gov/about/
ICR Review: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain
Comment on forms under OIRA review: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/jsp/PRA/How_to_comment_on_forms_under_OIRA_review.pdf
Comment on VA Regulations That Should Be Modified, Streamlined, Expanded or Repealed: https://www.va.gov/orpm/Regulations_To_Modify_Streamline_Expand_Repeal.asp
VA OIG hotline: https://www.vaoig.gov/hotline/online-forms/submit-a-complaint
OSC Disclosure of Wrongdoing: https://osc.gov/Services/Pages/DU.aspx