VA’s Six Health Care Priorities
In September 2022, Undersecretary for Health, Dr. Elnahal announced that VA had six healthcare priorities. It was in these six areas that VA should focus it’s time and resources to improve veteran healthcare.
He announced that these areas “deserve[d] our top performance, our focused commitment, and the best use of our available resources.”
Click here to read more about the VA Health Care Priorities. The six priorities announced by the Undersecretary are outlined below.
1. Hire Faster and More Competitively: The Undersecretary’s number one priority is to improve the VA hiring process by speeding up the hiring process and changing processes so that VA does not lose high quality candidates because it takes months for VA to make an employment offer. Part of this initiative is to offer competitive wages and benefits. To fulfill this priority, VA promises to:
Onboard employees faster
Accelerate HR Specialist Training and Readiness (HR STAR)
Invest in VA employees
2. Connect Veterans to the Soonest and Best Care: VA wants veterans to get “the right care in the right place at the right time from a location of their choice”. To deliver this care to the veteran population, VHA is incorporating technology into all aspects of the health care experience to provide veteran-centric care. To fulfill this priority, VA promises to improve upon:
Access initiatives
Care coordination
Referral Coordination Initiative (RCI)
3. Serve Veterans with military environmental Exposures: By now all NAVAPD members are aware that on August 2, 2022, Congress passed The Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. This bill ensures Veterans qualify for benefits to treat illnesses resulting from exposure to toxins during deployment. VA needs to now delver care to veterans affected by toxic exposure, , conduct research on military environmental exposure, and implement the authorities included in the Act to ensure VA hires and retains the best staff possible to treat affected Veterans. To fulfill this priority, VA promises to bolster:
Veterans’ exposure resources
Treating the Veterans’ whole health
PACT Act authorities
4. Accelerate VA’s journey to a High Reliability Organization: High reliability organizations are organizations that operate in complex, high risk environments for extended periods without serious accidents or catastrophic failures. VA’s dedicated employees work daily to deliver safe, high-quality care to Veterans. To fulfill this priority, VA will build upon:
Ensuring Veteran access to care
Enhancing Veteran care
Recognizing employee commitment to HRO
5. Support Veteran’s whole health, their caregivers and survivors: The best health care outcome occur when patients are personally involved in the own health.. Treating the entire person, and not just a particular symptom or disease, allows VA to not only care for a veteran’s most immediate health concern, but also to consider what the Veteran needs and wants to have a fully productive and fulfilling life. Whole Health has been a part of the VA for a while now and to fulfill this priority, VA will build upon:
The Homeless Programs Office (HPO)
Veterans Canteen Service (VCS)
The Whole Health approach to Long COVID
6. Prevent Veteran Suicide: VA’s top clinical priority is preventing Veteran suicide. This will require a full public health approach, combining community and clinical-based interventions. The National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide, clinical practice guidelines for VA and Department of Defense (DoD) and the White House Strategy on Reducing Military and Veteran Suicide provide the foundation for VA’s suicide prevention initiatives. To fulfill this priority VA will continue to build upon:
Enhancing Veteran access
Enhancing Veteran care
VA has come up with ‘Strategic Enablers’ to support these long–range goals. These enablers were formulated by public and private reports, as well as Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs), Congress, unions and other VA partners. These strategic enablers would allow the VA to:
Retain, invest in, and support employees.
Scale best practices and drive innovation.
Improve VA technology systems and workflows.
Drive equity for women, minority, and LGBTQ+ Veterans.
Modernize VA facilities.
Collaborate with VSOs, tribes, states, advocates, and agencies.
These priorities require a long-range plan for VA to remain the provider of choice for our nation’s veterans. VA’s Fiscal Year 2022–2028 Strategic Plan outlines four fundamental principles — access, advocacy, outcomes, and excellence. To reinforce these principles, VHA created the 2022–2025 VHA Long–Range Plan Framework.
The Framework designates four goals:
Goal 1: Veterans choose VHA as their health care provider and coordinator, built on trusted, long–term relationships.
Goal 2: VHA delivers high–quality, accessible and integrated health care.
Goal 3: VHA maximizes performance through shared ownership and is on the forefront of innovation.
Goal 4: VHA optimizes assets across the enterprise.
The 6 VA health care priorities and strategic enablers are foundational all decisions VA makes in implementing its long–range goals, to deliver healthcare efficiently and effectively. Congress is working on legislation that will help VA achieve these goals and priorities.
To see this legislation, see the summary of NAVAPD’s recent townhall with the Senate VA committee staffers. NAVAPD is here to be your voice so that these goals and priorities are not just feel good sentiment but are actually translated into positive change for NAVAPD’s member and for the veterans we are honored to serve. Click here to see more about VA’s priorities.