VA’s goal is to ensure the Veterans Health Administration is the Nation’s most efficient and high-performing medical network for both its patients and its employees. Recently, Dr. David J. Shulkin, VHA Under Secretary for Health, discussed the steps VA is taking to achieve this goal. Primarily, the Veterans Health Administration must adapt to the evolving Veteran community and change to meet their needs.
“I believe that addressing Veterans’ needs requires a new model of care,” Dr. Shulkin said in his article published in the New England Journal of Medicine. His overall plan stems from the idea that VA should change from simply being a direct-care provider, to becoming an integrated provider and payer. To do this, VHA must work with the private sector to address current access issues. Dr. Shulkin’s plan is based on a three-network system:
What Dr. Shulkin emphasizes throughout the article is how VA – despite its problems – still remains a top medical leader whose employees use best practices to improve the “quality, safety and consistency of Veterans’ experience regardless of the site of care.”
VA’s “whole health” model of care will also play an integral part of the plan. It involves multidisciplinary teams of health care professionals who focus on both physical and psychosocial care. Under the model, VA employees provide personalized and proactive care to Veterans and their families.
These are just some of the ways VHA is taking steps every day to improve the overall care of our Nation’s Veterans. If you want to help make a direct impact on the lives of Veterans and their families, Join us. Search for a career with VHA today.