Veteran Patients Experience Long Wait Times on the Electronic Wait List
By Chase Reavis and Andrea Johnson
Veteran patients placed on the Electronic Wait List (EWL) typically wait longer than patients who go through the Primary Care Management Module (PCMM).
Veteran patients first go through the PCMM of the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture to be assigned a primary care team and provider. If the appropriate caretakers are not available or do not exist within the respective VA hospital, patients are added to the EWL. The EWL directs patients to necessary resources at a different location WITHIN THE VA OR IN THE COMMUNITY, LIKE AT THE REGIONAL HOSPITAL??? or assigns them to a different team.
Within the veterans health system in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a higher percentage of patients on the EWL experienced wait times of at least 120 days in 2016 than in 2014, with a percentage point growth of 32.7. ***I DONT UNDERSTAND THIS*** More patients in Fayetteville were placed on the EWL than those in surrounding areas of Little Rock, Arkansas, Memphis, Tennessee, and Shreveport, Louisiana.
Nice narrative beginning to this assignment. The detail and context are welcome. See revisions.
I think the data on “average electronic wait times under 30” 2014-17 is not correct. It should include both the Under 14 and Under 30 data. So revise that chart please.
We need to ask Wanda Shull why Fayetteville was so heavy on the EWL list.