Veterans deserve the highest-quality well being care our nation can supply, however fulfilling this promise usually means overcoming main challenges. About 9 million veterans obtain care by the VA, with a 3rd residing in rural areas removed from VA amenities. Assembly their wants requires revolutionary options that mix experience, know-how, and strategic partnerships.
Why VA’s holistic mannequin outpaces conventional care
The VA stands aside with its built-in, long-term method to care. Not like the fragmented experiences many Individuals face—bouncing amongst suppliers who seldom talk—veterans profit from a well being care system that tracks their wants from navy separation by end-of-life.
As govt advisor to 4 VA secretaries underneath two administrations, I noticed firsthand how veterans profit from care that’s data-driven, prevention-oriented, and centered on outcomes. Most Individuals would discover this stage of integration enviable. Within the personal sector, sufferers usually juggle a number of specialists—basic practitioners, surgeons, gynecologists, cardiologists—who not often share data or coordinate therapies.
This integration has enabled the VA to develop unparalleled experience in situations that disproportionately have an effect on veterans, resembling traumatic mind harm (TBI), combat-related psychological well being points, and oncology therapies. VA facilities of excellence are so revered that households of non-veterans generally attain out, in search of entry to the system’s superior care. I bear in mind mother and father of youngsters who had suffered TBIs in automotive accidents asking if the VA may assist—as a result of VA experience clearly surpassed what was accessible in lots of personal settings.
When expanded entry meets fragmented programs
The 2018 MISSION Act was a watershed second—increasing veterans’ entry to group care in the event that they confronted lengthy wait instances or lived too removed from VA amenities. However with this chance got here a problem: Navigating a fragmented well being care system the place many suppliers lacked the expertise to deal with military-specific situations.
To help this shift, the VA created the Neighborhood Care Community (CCN), connecting eligible veterans with group suppliers underneath particular standards. The aim: Higher selection and improved entry to well timed, high-quality care nearer to dwelling.
Nevertheless, private-sector suppliers have been all of the sudden seeing sufferers with distinctive bodily traumas and psychological well being wants they weren’t educated to handle. Veterans getting into these programs anticipate their care groups to grasp navy tradition and service-related situations. Too usually, that expectation goes unmet.
The executive maze of claims processing
Behind the scenes, one other problem looms: Claims processing. VA claims are basically totally different from commonplace insurance coverage, requiring specialised experience.
The VA’s legacy EMR system, VistA, predates most business platforms and holds a long time of invaluable longitudinal information. Processing claims from this method with group suppliers entails navigating complicated coding, reimbursement guidelines, and documentation requirements.
To handle these challenges, the VA is transitioning to the Oracle Cerner-based Federal Digital Well being File (EHR), enhancing interoperability throughout the VA, Division of Protection (DoD), and CCN suppliers. By standardizing data, this method will help extra coordinated, data-driven care—irrespective of the place a veteran is handled.
But at the same time as platforms like Cerner and Epic enhance scientific information sharing, administrative complexity persists. Mismatched information requirements, fragmented supplier networks, and inconsistent documentation proceed to trigger delays and under-reimbursement. Hospitals gather solely about 70 p.c of what they’re owed on VA claims, writing off the remainder and threatening long-term entry to take care of veterans.
Human + machine: the way forward for claims and care
Know-how alone is not going to resolve these points. The trail ahead lies in combining sensible programs with deep area experience. Synthetic intelligence may also help, however solely when it understands context.
That is the promise of Context-Augmented Era (CAG), an rising idea the place AI instruments are educated on specialised information units to interpret claims and care documentation extra precisely. Within the VA context, combining this know-how with professional human oversight ensures suppliers are pretty reimbursed and veterans get the care they deserve.
Turning shared missions into actions
Fixing veteran well being care challenges usually requires unconventional coalitions. In constructing public-private partnerships, I’ve discovered success begins with one important query: Who else cares about this?
When two organizations share a prime strategic precedence, collaboration prospers. However when there’s misalignment in priorities, even the most effective concepts falter. For presidency partnerships particularly, understanding regulatory and institutional constraints is essential. Roles and duties are sometimes codified by Congress, limiting agility. But when framed across the shared mission of bettering veteran care, many are wanting to act.
A strong instance emerged through the COVID-19 disaster. The VA confronted a dire PPE scarcity. I reached out to inventor Dean Kamen, who used his world provide chain to supply vital tools. Regardless of skepticism that one entrepreneur may assist a federal company, our collaboration delivered almost 25 planeloads of masks, robes, and gloves to VA amenities nationwide.
Increasing entry by know-how and collaboration
Know-how will proceed to rework veteran care, particularly for rural populations. The VA was a pioneer in telehealth effectively earlier than the pandemic. As digital diagnostics enhance, veterans in distant areas will acquire entry to extra specialties without having to journey lengthy distances.
Higher information assortment and analytics will even assist care groups act smarter, quicker, and extra effectively—stopping burnout whereas bettering outcomes.
Well being care organizations serving veterans should embrace this evolving panorama. People who combine sensible know-how with specialised human experience—and construct mission-aligned partnerships—is not going to solely survive, however lead.
So ask your self: Who else cares about this? Discover them. Accomplice with them. Collectively, we are able to remodel strategic intent into broad, sustainable impression. That’s how we actually honor those that served.
Deborah Lafer Scher is a well being care guide.
