Posted on Dec 8, 2022
When the VA sends you to a community provider for care, why do you have to go to a main VA lab to get blood?
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The main VA lab is 44 miles away and I have a VA lab at my local PC provider VA location 4 miles away from my house. It seems like we are destroying the benefit of having local VA offices so we don't have the long trips for care?
Posted in these groups: 
Pentagon
Veterans Affairs (VA)
Pentagon Veterans Affairs (VA)
Posted 2 y ago
Responses: 5
*sigh* ... misread statement ...
What I found out is that the labs at the local VA clinic (CBOC, etc) are not full-featured labs and usually can only do certain type of tests.
If you have an 'out of the normal' test, they might have to send you elsewhere or (if you push for it), have to make arrangements to do the blood draw and send it to the main lab (apparently they don't do that normally).
What I found out is that the labs at the local VA clinic (CBOC, etc) are not full-featured labs and usually can only do certain type of tests.
If you have an 'out of the normal' test, they might have to send you elsewhere or (if you push for it), have to make arrangements to do the blood draw and send it to the main lab (apparently they don't do that normally).
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COL Randall C.
I'll repost what I said before (when I though it was a comment about Community Care) just to share the information that a lot of vets don't realize..
CSM Paul Coleman - Your question is a bit off.
It should be, "Why doesn't the VA automatically include 'outpatient diagnostic and treatment services' in the Community Care (CC) referral"? The VA will cover CC labs*, but it is almost always overlooked in the referral and takes that long, lengthy process again in order to get authorization if you have to go back and get authorization for it.
I guess one of the things you can do is makes sure you bring it up with your PCM when they are doing the referral and specifically ask that they included labs/x-rays/etc. in the request for services that they submit.
While veterans using the VA should have to do this, everyone should be familiar with the scope of what's possible under CC. That way when you talk to your PCM, you know what they can ask for (many of them are not aware!).
I included a graphic of what the guideline for those services are.
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* VA CC can cover labs and other stuff - https://vaccnprovidertemplate.logisticshealth.com/trainingdocs/VACCN-R1-D41-ProvTrng-VACCN-Provider-Manual.pdf, pages 8-9
CSM Paul Coleman - Your question is a bit off.
It should be, "Why doesn't the VA automatically include 'outpatient diagnostic and treatment services' in the Community Care (CC) referral"? The VA will cover CC labs*, but it is almost always overlooked in the referral and takes that long, lengthy process again in order to get authorization if you have to go back and get authorization for it.
I guess one of the things you can do is makes sure you bring it up with your PCM when they are doing the referral and specifically ask that they included labs/x-rays/etc. in the request for services that they submit.
While veterans using the VA should have to do this, everyone should be familiar with the scope of what's possible under CC. That way when you talk to your PCM, you know what they can ask for (many of them are not aware!).
I included a graphic of what the guideline for those services are.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
* VA CC can cover labs and other stuff - https://vaccnprovidertemplate.logisticshealth.com/trainingdocs/VACCN-R1-D41-ProvTrng-VACCN-Provider-Manual.pdf, pages 8-9
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If your local CBOC does not have lab draw capabilities, I can see needing to send you 44 miles out. If the CBOC does have lab draw capabilities, it makes no sense to send you that far.
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