A new website unveiled today is aimed at providing more transparency for patients at VA clinics and hospitals.
The new website, which veterans can access on their smart phones, allows them to access such things as wait times and patient satisfaction at different VA facilities. It even allows the 9 million enrolled veterans to compare VA facilities with private hospitals.
"The VA is taxed. There’s a lot of people who need services,” said Green Beret Special Forces Veteran Brian Anderson, who founded a non-profit organization when he returned from Afghanistan.
Anderson says a new website released by the VA Wednesday will help hold the VA more accountable.
“It's nowhere close to perfect right now. But it's getting closer to where it needs to be for our warriors,” Anderson said.
Anderson started Veterans Alternative, which helps veterans transition from the military into civilian life after returning from war.
He discovered many veterans faced long wait times for appointments at the VA.
Congress approved $10 billion for the Veterans Choice program, allowing veterans to get care outside the VA.
But a study released earlier this year showed wait times were sometimes worse than within the VA system and few people who sought care under the program ended up receiving it for a variety of reasons.
The new VA website shows wait times vary greatly by facility and depend on what type of care you are seeking.
But Anderson says putting that information in veterans' hands is a good sign.
“I think the VA is working hard to get to the right place. I think they're working in the right direction,” he said.
The new website can be accessed at www.accesstocare.va.gov.
