Effects of VHA’s Referral Coordination Initiative on Referral Patterns and Waiting Times

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) launched the Referral Coordination Initiative (RCI) in 2019 to assist Veterans in navigating the various care options available to them, improve scheduling timeliness, and reduce administrative burden for referring providers.

The Partnered Evidence-based Policy Resource Center (PEPReC) published a policy brief exploring whether RCI is associated with changes in the proportion of VHA specialty care referrals completed by community providers (rather than VHA providers) and changes to mean appointment waiting times for VHA and community providers. Read the full brief here.

PEPReC, within the Veterans Health Administration and funded in large part by the Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI), is a team of health economists, health services and public health researchers, statistical programmers, and policy analysts who engage policymakers to improve Veterans’ lives through evidence-driven innovations using advanced quantitative methods.

The post Effects of VHA’s Referral Coordination Initiative on Referral Patterns and Waiting Times first appeared on The Incidental Economist.