In a recent Arizona Republic front-page article (9/2/14), it seems a key reason for the delay in VA healthcare and claims processing is due to the inability for the Department of Defense and the VA to share electronic health records efficiently.
"A July audit by the Defense Department's inspector general found that the Defense Department failed to make proper records transfers to the VA. In the Army, 77 percent of records transferred in 2013 were not timely and 28 percent were not complete."
A key part of the problem is the VA's reliance on old technology. A report released last week by the VA's Office of Inspector General criticized the agency's out-of-date scheduling system. The system has come under fire repeatedly since The Arizona Republic disclosed in April that veterans were dying while awaiting appointments for care.
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In addition to all the problems plaguing the VA, old technology and an inability to transfer records from the DoD adds to the inefficiencies and time delays among VA patients. The Defense Department plans to buy a new system, while the VA intends to modernize its own in-house design. But modernization still takes time.
Any ideas about what the VA should do? Are they even capable of doing it in-house?
