IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Tillis Offers Recommendations To VA Secretary To Improve Efficiency And Care At The VA
Raleigh News & Observer: “North Carolina Republican U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis wrote to VA Secretary Robert McDonald on Thursday with some preliminary recommendations about how to use good business practices to improve the health care veterans receive. ‘You and I both come from the private sector,’ Tillis wrote. ‘We have run complex organizations that constantly required an infusion of new ideas and practices to make the enterprise viable.’ The letter noted that McDonald had asked Tillis for ideas about how to improve the agency’s business practices.”
WSOC-Charlotte: “North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis sent a letter to the VA Secretary concerned about wait times. He said veterans are still waiting too long for doctor appointments despite recent reforms. Tillis proposed new ways to cut down backlogs from extending hours at clinics to new partnerships with private hospitals to relieve the burden.”
TWC News: “Some of Tillis’ suggestions include keeping VA clinics longer, getting new healthcare providers into the VA system faster by implementing a new credentialing system and exploring the expanded use of urgent care.”
Salisbury Post: “A comprehensive list of goals for the VA as part of a larger plan would be the best way, Tillis said in an interview, to ensure significant progress is made in improving the system. An improvement in wait times for an appointment and final outcomes from appointments are measures that Tillis said could be used to determine the VA’s progress…In an interview about the letter, Tillis said more money is particularly needed in states such as North Carolina, where the veteran population is growing. He continues by suggesting a flex-budgeting model to help account for changes in need and volume at VA medical centers.”
WGHP-Greensboro: Tillis: “We’re going to hold them up to a standard to say exactly what they’re going to do, and exactly what timeframe they’re going to do it. Some of these problems are not going to be solved in 12 months or 18 months, there is going to be a series of things they’re going to have to do with their processes, with their people, and their technology to solve this problem long term.”
WLOS-Asheville: “Senator Thom Tillis is asking the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to consider some new ideas to reduce the wait times for doctor visits. Tillis has been visiting VA hospitals across the state as a member of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He says his years in the private sector tell him that the VA needs to adopt some commonsense best business practices.”
