The identification of veterans receiving care in community-based settings is important and has implications for healthcare delivery and workforce training and development. As part of a larger collaboration regarding the delivery of behavioral health services, this project partnered a Midwest Veterans Affairs Medical Center with a state primary care association and large federally qualified health center (FQHC) to standardize the method in which veteran status is captured in clinic.
Before adapting the screening item and implementing it as a required feld in the electronic medical record, the number of veterans reported was 56, or 0.32% of total patients. After implementation, that number increased to 506, or 3.01% of total patients. This suggests there is a need to standardize the method in which veteran status is collected, which has implications for awareness of conditions likely to impact veterans and may inform opportunities for providers to engage in veteran-centric education and training.
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $7,287,500, with 0% of the total NCA project financed with non-federal sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov. https://www.hrsa.gov/