Insights into Veteran Healthcare | Perspectives from VA and Civilian Systems
Insights into Veteran Healthcare | Perspectives from VA and Civilian Systems from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.
What can veterans expect for the patient experience in VA versus civilian healthcare systems? Expert Dr. Drew Moghanaki from UCLA Health explains common experiences for veterans in VA and civilian healthcare systems and information about the PACT Act.
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“…be aware of who’s providing care, and obviously give them a break if they don’t understand anything about what it means to be a veteran. The quality of healthcare really builds upon a culture of trust. You may be better served finding other physicians or providers who are veterans themselves.”
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Transcript:
Lisa Hatfield:
Dr. Moghanaki, are there systemic issues within the healthcare system that disproportionately affect veterans?
Dr. Drew Moghanaki:
Well, this makes me realize that healthcare systems aren’t just automatic systems. They’re environments where there are people like myself who work in a healthcare system. And depending on where a veterans getting care, that staff may or may not know much about what it means to be a veteran. So let’s take three different examples. Obviously, if you come to VA Medical Center, our veterans, many of them told me they feel like they’re back on base. We understand the mission. We understand the cause. We understand the victory. We also understand the suffering. And we can connect better than anyone else in this country with veterans.
And we’ve got the access to the best treatments available to truly take the best care that we can with a comprehensive approach through the VA healthcare network, which now consists of over a 1,000 clinics and over 100 high-quality, multi-functioning health care medical centers. But let’s take option number two, where a veteran may be receiving care in a community hospital. And in that situation, you may run across some of the healthcare providers who know something about what it means to be a veteran.
Either, if you’re lucky, they themselves were a veteran and provided some service, or they were raised in a family where they know other people who have served in the military and they understand the basic principles. And so those healthcare providers, even though they may be civilians themselves or veterans working in a community hospital, at least kind of get it.
But then there’s a third scenario where veterans will go to a community hospital, and the people taking care of them don’t really know what it means to be a veteran. They only know the television version or the Hollywood version of it. And they think they know, but they really don’t know. And I’ll tell you, that’s who I was when I first started working in the VA about 12, 13 years ago. And I’ve been so fortunate to get a lot of lessons on what it means to be a veteran. And over time, I’ve gotten to know a lot of soldiers and veterans myself just in my personal life to truly understand. And so I think my activation tip for here is to really be aware of who’s providing care, and obviously give them a break if they don’t understand anything about what it means to be a veteran.
The quality of healthcare really builds upon a culture of trust. You may be better served finding other physicians or providers who are veterans themselves. And, of course, if you’ve got access to VA healthcare, check-in with the VA Medical Center and see, hey, what’s the quality of my care here? And I’ll probably be saying this later on in this recording, which is that if you are a veteran and not yet eligible for VA healthcare, please do check in because the PACT Act recently approved by Congress has truly expanded eligibility, and you may be eligible and not know about it.
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