Opinion
It’s becoming a common scene to see our military personnel returning home from war suffering from mental and physical wounds.
According to RAND (2009), 981,834 veterans return to the U.S. with 18 percent suffering from some form of mental illness.
The mental illnesses that our veterans are experiencing can go unseen unlike a physically wounded veteran. The unseen wounds can create problems within a veteran’s life and how they cope. Military individuals struggle on a daily basis with the invisible wounds of serving in a highly stressful environment.
When they return home, wounded veterans should not have to worry about receiving quality care in a timely manner. For veterans suffering from mental illnesses, they do not have the time to wait for care from the Department of Veterans Affair.
According to the VA, there are 3.4 million wounded warriors residing in the United States. That is a very high number of individuals who are attempting to seek care from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The sad reality is that with such a high volume of wounded warriors seeking care that the VA has become impacted.
Many veterans are waiting six months to a year to receive assistance in accessing services and benefits within the VA.
The huge backlog of veterans waiting to seek care from the VA has created issues in regards to the fact that our veterans are not receiving the care that they truly deserve sooner.
In 2008, the Wounded Warrior Act was passed into legislation as an attempt to improve mental and physical health care for returning military personnel.
The act strives to create changes in the way that the VA system addresses the issues of veterans not having access to quality care.
A major problem that the VA faces is the large number of individuals who go in and out of the doors at VA clinics.
The Department of Veterans Affairs serves 8.3 million veterans across the nation. This is important to know because it allows an individual to understand that the VA is trying to help those who are asking for help but with the overload that they are facing, it can be tough.
We are trying to find answers to the problem and create a better environment within the VA for veterans to ensure that they receive care in a timely fashion before it may be too late.
For veterans who have to wait for long period of time, they may turn to other outlets as a way to destress.
The outlets that a veteran may choose may be negative and be costly to them. These outlets are a mixture of alcohol or drug abuse, and the last resort may be suicide.
If there is such a backlog of care within the VA, it is time for other resources to be utilized for our veterans to ensure that they have a safe space to turn to before it’s too late.
Veterans should be provided with a list of resources that they can access while waiting to receive assistance from the VA.
There is no such thing as leaving what they see behind them because they will always carry the tragic events that they experienced while serving in a war zone.
We must continue to honor our veterans no matter what they are experiencing and assist them in receiving the care that they need. We can’t let them give up on themselves as they wait to receive quality care from the VA.
We can help them by assisting in sharing information about resources that are available within their own local communities and keep fighting alongside them to ensure that the wait time continues to decline.
Jacqueline Wilson is a masters of social work graduate student at the University of Southern California. She is from Clearlake, Calif.
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- Written by: Jacqueline Wilson
If two mechanics are working on your car, but they’re not talking to one another, the results may not be so good.
Likewise, if a baseball coach doesn’t communicate well with his players, he’s not likely to win as many games as he could.
Good coordination can improve outcomes in all sorts of human activities. Health care is no exception.
That’s why Medicare places so much emphasis on getting doctors and other health care providers to work together more closely and to share information on their patients.
For one thing, Medicare is encouraging the formation of accountable care organizations, or ACOs.
An ACO is a group of doctors and other health care providers who agree to work together and with Medicare to give you the best possible care by making sure they have the most up‑to‑date information about you. ACOs are designed to help your providers work together more closely to give you a more coordinated and patient-centered experience.
If you have Original Medicare and your doctor has decided to participate in an ACO, you’ll be notified of that, either in person or by letter, and the ACO may request your personal health information to better coordinate your care. You’ll have the option of declining to have your Medicare claims information shared with the ACO.
Your Medicare benefits, services, and protections won’t change. And you still have the right to use any doctor or hospital that accepts Medicare at any time, just as you do now.
For more information, visit www.medicare.gov/acos.html or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users should call 877-486-2048.
Medicare also gives financial incentives to doctors and other providers who adopt health information technology. Health IT can help manage your health information, improve how you communicate with your health care providers, and improve the quality and coordination of your care.
These tools also reduce paperwork, medical errors, and health care costs.
One example is electronic health records, or EHRs. These are records that your doctor, other health care provider, medical office staff, or a hospital keeps on a computer about your medical care or treatments.
EHRs can help lower the chances of medical errors, eliminate duplicate tests, and may improve your overall quality of care.
Your doctor’s EHR may be able to link to a hospital, lab, pharmacy, or other doctors, so the people who care for you can have a more complete picture of your health. You have the right to get a copy of your health information for your own personal use and to make sure the information is complete and accurate.
Electronic prescribing is another way to coordinate and improve care delivery. It allows your doctor (or other health care provider who is legally allowed to write prescriptions) to send your prescriptions directly to your pharmacy.
Electronic prescribing can save you money, time, and help keep you safe. You don’t have to drop off and wait for your prescription. And your prescription may be ready when you arrive.
Prescribers can check which drugs your insurance covers and may be able to prescribe a drug that costs you less.
Electronic prescriptions are easier for the pharmacist to read than handwritten prescriptions. This means there’s less chance that you’ll get the wrong drug or dose.
And prescribers can be alerted to potential drug interactions, allergies and other warnings.
David Sayen is Medicare’s regional administrator for Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and the Pacific Territories. You can always get answers to your Medicare questions by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
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- Written by: David Sayen
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