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Research Topics


Access to Care

Access to healthcare includes a variety of concerns, including how close Veterans live to VA healthcare facilities, and whether or not they are older, disabled, and/or chronically ill and so may experience difficulty traveling. HSR&D researchers study several important aspects of access, including how living in rural settings or being a minority Veteran may affect access to care, as well as all Veterans' access to specialty care (i.e., mental healthcare, rehabilitation services, HIV treatment).

Each "widget" below is populated by a dynamic search of the HSR&D website and its underlying databases. Search results are generated based on the search term "Access to Care". Results are updated regularly, as new data are available.

VIEW: Citations | Publication Briefs | Studies | HSR&D Briefs, Reports, Newsletters | Topic Spotlight | Cyberseminars | Videos | Podcasts | Other Resources



Citations

(5 of more than 89 ACCESS TO CARE focused publications)



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Publication Briefs

(5 of more than 17 ACCESS TO CARE focused publication briefs)


  • VA Surgical Care Comparable or Better than Non-VA Surgical Care
    Investigators conducted a systematic review to compare VA and non-VA care for surgical conditions across domains of quality and safety, access, patient experience, and comparative cost/efficiency using studies published between 2015 and 2021 – following implementation of the Choice and MISSION Acts. Findings showed that in all but two studies, VA care had comparable or better quality and safety ou...
    Date: May 8, 2023
  • Giving Veterans an Active Voice in Creating a Veteran-Centered Chronic Pain Research Agenda
    Veterans Action League (VAL) 2.0 was a two-year community engagement project (2019–2021) that sought to develop a national Veteran-centered chronic pain research agenda that includes Veteran-generated recommendations for chronic pain management and chronic pain research priorities. Findings showed that Veterans’ most frequently cited need for chronic pain management and treatment was better access...
    Date: March 23, 2023
  • Early Expansion of Benefits under Choice Act Increased Community Hospital Use but Did Not Change Mortality
    This study examined changes in VA enrollees’ use of VA and non-VA hospitals from 2012-2017, as well as mortality associated with policies intended to increase access to care, such as the Choice Act. Findings showed that over the five-year study period, Veterans increased their use of community hospitals paid by VA and Medicaid and decreased their use of VA hospitals when access to non-VA care expa...
    Date: June 10, 2022
  • Referral Coordination Team Improves Timeliness of VA Specialty Care Delivery and Patient Experience
    In 2018, the Office of Veterans Access to Care (OVAC) partnered with local providers at the VA Puget Sound Medical Center to pilot a referral coordination team to manage new referrals in sleep medicine. Investigators then compared the referral coordination team and the traditional specialist-led referral method in terms of timeliness and community care referrals. Findings showed that the referral ...
    Date: February 1, 2021
  • VA’s Primary Care-Mental Health Integration Affects Access Differently for Women and Men Veterans
    This study of 5.4 million Veterans (including 448,455 women), who received care at one of 396 VA primary care clinics between FY2013 and FY2016, set out to answer the following question: Did VA’s national Primary Care-Mental Health Integration (PC-MHI) initiative improve access to care equally among men and women Veterans? Findings showed that PC-MHI was associated with greater use of all outpatie...
    Date: October 20, 2020

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Studies

( 5 of more than 5 ACCESS TO CARE focused projects )

Project No.  Title  PI  Funding Start   
SDR 21-133 Identifying Modifiable Factors that Affect Veterans At-Risk due to Social Determinants of Health and Psychological Distress Access to Care Within Integrated Primary Care Settings Funderburk, Jennifer 2022-06-01
PPO 18-121 From Screening to Treatment: Mapping Access to Care Pathways for Veterans who Screen Positive for PTSD Bovin, Michelle 2019-06-01
IIR 15-084 Impact of New Physician Residents on Veterans' Access to Care Kashner, Terrell 2016-06-01
IBA 09-061 Access to Care for Veterans with Chronic Lower Limb Wounds Reiber, Gayle 2010-04-01
SDR 21-133 Identifying Modifiable Factors that Affect Veterans At-Risk due to Social Determinants of Health and Psychological Distress Access to Care Within Integrated Primary Care Settings Funderburk, Jennifer 2022-06-01

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HSR&D Briefs, Reports, Newsletters

5 sample "Access to Care" publications displayed.


  • Improving Care and Access for LGBTQ Veterans || In Progress

    ...health risks and unique challenges in accessing healthcare.2 For example, a recent...79% were satisfied with their medical care, and 69% were satisfied with their mental...investigations designed to improve clinical decision-making and care, inform patients...topics. In This Issue: Improving Care and Access for LGBTQ Veterans Overview: New

  • Screening for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Primary Care

    Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Primary Care...Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Primary Care 46 Screening for Post-Traumatic Stress...Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Primary Care: A Systematic Review Evidence-based Synthesis

  • Advanced Wound Care Therapies for

    Advanced Wound Care Therapies for Non-Healing Diabetic, Venous, and Arterial...Advanced Wound Care Therapies for Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services...Program November 2012 Advanced Wound Care Therapies for Non-Healing Diabetic,

  • Process Access Data

    Process Access Data...Process Access Data Process Access Author Year Full citation N Clinical area...support, income support, and use. Med Care. 2014;52(10 Suppl 3):S17-24. 16370 Rehabilitative

  • Teledermatology Mobile Apps Improve Veterans' Access to Dermatology || In Progress

    The Anywhere to Anywhere VA Health Care Initiative, established in May 2018...healthcare providers to offer telehealth treatment to Veterans no matter where...Teledermatology Mobile Apps Improve Veterans’ Access to Dermatology Feature Article Teledermatology...effective option to enhance access to high-quality skin care in the VA healthcare

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Topic Spotlight

Read more on this topic and related topics


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Cyberseminars

The most recent "Access to Care" seminars are displayed.

Date Title Presenter(s)
2/21/2023 QUERI Advancing Diversity in Implementation Leadership (ADIL): Examples from the Field on Optimizing and Leveraging VA Leadership Opportunities Reddy, Yuvaram  
Wilson, Sarah  
Braganza, Melissa  
10/19/2022 Provider Supply and Access to Care Yee, Christine  
7/21/2022 Telehealth Delivery of Multimodal Complementary Integrated Health (CIH) Intervention for Suicide Prevention Haghighi, Fatemeh  
Byma, Lauren  
7/13/2022 Enhancing Primary Care Experience in Patients with Homeless Experience and Chronic Pain: Lessons learned from the Primary Care Quality-Homeless Services Tailoring (PCQ-HOST) study Kertesz, Stefan  
Varley, Allyson  
12/15/2021 A Novel Gap Staffing Metric for Primary Care Providers and Implications for Urban and Rural Areas O'Shea, Amy  
Kaboli, Peter  
Haraldsson, Bjarni  

» View more Cyberseminars

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Videos


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Podcasts


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Other Resources

  • Learn about the VHA's Priorities for Strategic Action in the area of Veteran Access to care
  • Read the QUERI-funded Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center's Policy Brief about how economic and policy effects Veterans' access to care. 
  • Learn more about what kinds of research questions are included within the HSR&D Access Portfolio.
  • Read about projects to improve access included within the HSR&D Collaborative Research to Enhance and Advance Transformation (CREATE) initiative. 
  • Veterans Rural Health Resource Centers

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