After asking for physicians’ help to enhance care for veterans last November, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released information for physicians interested in delivering care through the Veterans Choice Program. Learn how you can help improve access to care for veterans.
The Veterans Choice Program enables the VA to enter into provider agreements with non-VA physicians to deliver care to veterans who are either unable to receive timely care, defined as wait times of more than 30 days, or who live too far from a VA facility, defined as more than 40 miles.
To apply to provide care through the Veterans Choice Program, physicians must join the Health Net Federal or TriWest Health Care Alliance networks of non-VA providers. These networks are the entities implementing the program. Follow these steps to apply:
- Use the Veterans Choice Program Contractor Map to identify which VA contractor is administering the Veterans Choice Program in your area.
- Review the Health Net and TriWest Conditions of Participation to verify that your practice is configured to participate in the Veterans Choice Program.
- Go to the contractor website to complete the Participating Provider Agreement and join its provider network, either the Health Net network or the TriWest network.
The program is the result of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act, a law the AMA helped shape, which offers funding and other tools to better serve veterans in the short term as the demand for VA care greatly outpaces the number of clinicians.
“Right now, one of the biggest challenges we face is the shortage of clinicians,” VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald told physicians at the 2014 AMA Interim Meeting. “The demand for VA care will not decrease any time soon. The nation’s been at war for over a decade, and we’ll continue to be caring for many of our severely wounded and ill veterans for decades to come.”
Learn more about the program and get additional resources at the AMA’s veteran health Web page.
