VA is making it easier for you to schedule medical appointments with an in-network community provider if you are eligible for community care. Veterans Self-Scheduling allows you to contact an in-network community provider to schedule an appointment. The goal is to minimize scheduling delays by empowering you to coordinate your community care appointments.
While we are excited to offer this additional convenient scheduling option for community care, Veterans remain welcome to choose to pursue their care within VA.
View your scheduled VA and community care appointments online at My HealtheVet. Find in-network community providers at the VA facility locator.
Setting up your appointment preferences
If you are eligible and opt in for community care, VA facility staff will ask for and document your appointment preferences, which include:
- Your preferred scheduling method (self-scheduling, VA schedules on your behalf or the community provider directly schedules an appointment with you).
- Your preferred in-network provider (if you have one).
- The day of week and time that’s most convenient for you to schedule an appointment.
Once referred for community care, you must wait to receive a letter from your local VA medical facility. The letter verifies you have approval to directly schedule appointments with the in-network preferred provider listed on the letter. The letter also includes the reference authorization number.
You must have self-scheduling letter from VA
You are not authorized to self-schedule an appointment with a community provider until you receive your self-scheduling letter from VA.
Please contact the issuing community care office with the date and time of your appointment so staff can document it in your medical record.
If the community provider can’t confirm you scheduled an appointment, the VA community care staff will contact you to determine if the care and appointment are still needed.
Resources:
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I found out about this by accident just today (17Aug21). Earlier today I was on hold for over an hour before I hung up. I Was trying to notify CC that I have an appointment with my eye Dr. I have been trying to call someone at the CC office for months and nearly always end up calling the VA hot line in DC to get someone from VA Puget Sound to answer the phone. No one told me I could do this on-line. So I am going to try that but I am also going to my appointment even if I never get through to VA. I am tired of spending hours on hold to get the care I need. I lost the use of one eye because of the hold up trying to get VA to approve care. I am NOT going to lose my remaining eye waiting for the incompetent folks at VA.
VA and Community Care are a BIG mess!! In June my NP sent a referral because she needed a “doctor” to see me for further evaluation…all within the VA mind you, however, he had no openings until mid August, so VA rep offered Community Care…a rep called telling me referral would be sent to a doctor whose office would contact me. After 3 weeks, I called VA AND community care for status, I got several callbacks with bullcrap from both groups. It is August and I have NO appointment!?!? This is the treatment I have been getting for YEARS!!! I despise the VA!!!
Needless Pain and Suffering is what the VA Health Care System Employees Specialize In. Sadists to Say the Least. And Don’t Worry, They will be Quick-Enough to Blame All Veterans for All Their Incompetencies and Errors Concerning Your Well-being.
Ok.
Didn’t receive a confirmation comment page stating yourreview.
Thanks.
Veteran Self-Scheduling? Or, Is It a Self-Scheduling Letter for Veterans that is the Veterans Administration Improved Speedy Iniciatives that Will Obviously Stall, or Completely Render this New and Improved VA Health Care System Utterly Useless for All Veterans.
Yeah, and If I took a Trash Dumpster Cat to the Cemetary during a Full-Moon at Midnight and Swung it by its Tail, 13 Times Around my Head, While Dancing a Voodoo Gig, Then-Maybe, We’ll Receive from the VA Health Care System Some of This Pie in the Sky that they so Earnestly Promise Veterans Time-After-Time?
Go-Figure?
[Editor: Please do not submit multiple identical comments. Our comment system flagged this and your nine other identical comments as spam.]
Where do I get a self-scheduling letter from the VA?
All comments I’m reading here are not positive and I have to agree with them.
Community Care is extremely difficult to deal with. Due to pandemic and phone system problems it’s difficult to communicate with Care. You can’t email them either. It’s a don’t call us, we’ll call you situation. I’ve had a Care rep tell me they are backlogged with 40,000 cases. If true, they need more people obviously. Their response was they need more budget money to have more people.
The way it goes for me is you ask Primary Care for a referral, then 1 to 4 weeks later you are notified they are working on it. Then a week or two later you get a call with choice of Care providers. You pick one and are told to call them 2 to 3 working days later to give the provider time to process an approval fax or letter and then if you’re lucky and things go well with that processing, you can make an appointment for 4 to 6 weeks later.
That’s been the “process” for me. Anywhere from 4 to 10 weeks to actually see a doctor outside the VA system.
This causes needless pain and suffering when you need a chiropractor or other doctor who can relieve pain.
I had an experience where the Care provider forgot to send back paperwork and the “process” didn’t make me aware of this. I found out, by accident, after many calls.
It seems that Care could have told me this in the first month instead of the third month. How was I to know where the chain broke down?
My first PCP provider through CC was fine; however, trying to get second authorization has been ****! Since 9 Dec 2021 have been trying to get to see my PCP and have MEDS renewed, and LABS. Gone through Tri-West, CCN @ Loma Linda, Patient Advocate @ Loma Linda so many times and NO Local PCP authorized. Two weeks ago they said they had authorization number: however, Tri-West said they can’t find any In network CCN provider closer than the VA itself which is 68 Miles away from my home and I have NO transportation. Finally, the DAV Transportation is back in operation and I will be able to go to the LLVAMC to see a PCP in August. Being a Diabetic, w/Thyroid complications and NO LABS since Feb 2020 and MEDS needing refills, I can now relax. Thanks in a very large part to the Disabled American Veterans Transportation volunteers here in 29 Palms, Ca.
Why don’t you get rid of the VA employees that don’t give a sht? I have been waiting six months for three appointments and they said, they never received the referrals. That’s why veterans commit suicide!
Lots of vets I talk to get diabetic shoes locally but for some reason they want me to make the 5 hour round trip to Asheville to get my 2-1/2 year old rags replaced. Since some of them have come back to work after covid my faith in what used to be the best health care around is gone and that has nothing to do with the shoes. I went to the store and bought some shoes and put a wedge in the sole but I can’t do that with s serious health issues.
You need to find a better way to renew authorizations for community care. I have a physician in the community and for years it seems like every year my authorizations run out and or my doctors staff have the terrible job of trying to get a new authorization. It really needs help. Thanks
VA SUCKS.. Community Care. I can’t get referrals out. Sigadicia nervers out. In constant pain. Knees bad, two sprange ankles. Neck pain, shoulder pain.
I have been waiting for over 6 months for community care to schedule an appointment for me I have called them over 12 times in over months with NO reply!
How do you accomplish this ? I can’t even get them to keep authorizations current. F/U appts made after the current authorization expires etc. Continuing ongoing long term care needed and authorizations are booked for 3 or 6 months when the care needed is bi-monthly or quarterly follow ups
The V.A. is the most monstrous headache I have ever been exposed to. No wonder so many Veterans take their own life.
1 year for asking about another shoulder injection, last 1 was 5 years ago. Anyone? Anyone?