VA secretary 'confident' medical wait times are improving

Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald downplayed new concerns this week about wait times at VA hospitals, asserting that access to appointments and veterans’ satisfaction with medical care options have increased dramatically in recent years.

“We’re trying to be veteran-centric, not appointment-time-centric. ... I’m confident we’re moving in the right direction,” he said during an interview for C-SPAN's “Newsmakers” recorded Thursday. “I know it’s politically popular to drag us back to some of these other measures and some of these other things, but I’ve spent a lot of time working on moving us forward."
On Monday, the Government Accountability Office released a report stating that veterans face waits of several weeks for medical care, despite claims from VA officials that most patients see a doctor within a week.

At issue are differences in how the two agencies calculate wait times. VA measures from the day schedulers returns a veteran's call. GAO officials start counting the day a veteran contacts the department.

Critics say that record-keeping difference is crucial to measuring how well officials have responded to the department’s 2014 wait time scandal, when evidence of lengthy appointment delays and administrative cover-ups eventually forced the resignation of VA leaders.
McDonald was confirmed to his Cabinet-level post in the months that followed, and has repeatedly promised to bring a more customer-friendly approach to department operations.

He said he has confidence in VA’s wait time data, and believes it shows significant progress in getting veterans care quickly. But he also said those metrics are only part of the conversation.

“How does Cleveland Clinic measure wait times? Does it matter?” he said. “The important thing is to get the veteran in for care, and we’re getting more and more veterans in for care.”

That has included adding more resources to veterans health care since the 2014 crisis, including 7 million more medical appointments, 1,400 new doctors and 2,300 new nurses.
McDonald was confirmed to his Cabinet-level post in the months that followed, and has repeatedly promised to bring a more customer-friendly approach to department operations.