Monday, June 17, 2013

Post No. 14 - Short Fallback and Re-Group

Reporting for Roll Call 14:30 Hrs 6-17-13
Hi LT:
Per our phone chat yesterday, I'm taking a short Fall Back and Re-Group moment here re:VA Card issue.
First of all, you asked...how come the armed services don't inform dischargees about their need to go get a VA card asap, after being discharged. I'm don't hold much with conspiracies here (diabolical or otherwise) Personally, I believe it really is just a case of -inertia- That is, the VA is the VA, and the armed forces are the armed forces, and although they're supposed to have some relation to each other, the two have never really "linked" together. In part that's also due to the way they were originally set up. Also, keep in mind, it wasn't until very recently that the VA Card was open to all honorably discharged veterans (2000-2002?). Since then, I suspect the reason the Services don't make any mention of it is because...it hasn't occurred to them that they should...it's as simple as that.
All of which brings us right back to some of our earlier debates about what's wrong with the system. It's not so much "broken" as way behind the times. The whole concept needs an "upgrade"...but no one has seriously considered doing so, beyond more or less cosmetic tweaks to it here and there. In many ways the VA is operating with antique procedures and structures, some of which seem to go all the way back to the Civil War!
Well. in our times, at least back to WWII. That's the crux of it all.
Okay...so how might this particular issue be fixed?
1) For the Armed Services part: These should be required to upgrade their part of the process by coming up with a new and common version of the old Dog Tags. That is, instead of metal, in the form of a miniature plastic "credit card" that could be swipable, just like with credit cards. This new plastic "Dog Tag" would have imbedded two strips. One for service record entries (from day one to discharge), and one for medical record entries(also, from day one till close out physical and discharge, including any annotations, evaluations, outcomes, etc.). The service member would have a personal pin code for access to it. Without it...no data accessible by anyone else, and only other option would be by some sort of signed release form by the service member. Lastly, as part of the discharging process, the Services would be required to provide a close-out counseling session, to include an information packet containing whatever current VA benefits and services that are available, plus, location, address, phone number of the nearest VA to the member's home town or place of discharge. Something along these lines would resolve the gap we were talking about.
2)For the VA's part: Should be required to produce these information packets for distribution to the Services. To further streamline the discharged veteran's connection with the VA, perhaps it should have a standardized corresponding incoming counseling process for each new troop that knocks on the door of one of its facilities. No matter where a veteran went, he'd be immediately referred to that "office". There, he'd register for his VA Card, and be assigned his primary doctor right off the bat...no delays at this point of the process. Strictly walk-in and wham bam...he's at the "intake" end of the funnel. Next, at his first appointment with his Doctor, he would present his plastic Dog Tag, the doctor would swipe his medical data into his own computer, the vet would enter his personal pin code to authorize/confirm it...now, his doctor would have all the medical EEI needed, for moving forward, to include that preliminary VA physical we mentioned before. The point of all this is that there would be no gap between the Services medical data/record, and what resulted from that initial VA physical. VA bureaucracy would have little or no wiggle room to screw around. Service provided medical facts about the veteran would be unimpeachable.
Well, that's what I think could fix things. It could be done very rapidly, and at relatively low cost besides, usuing existing technology, without overloading either the Services or the VA's budgets. A significant delaying factor would be eliminated, and backlogs of claims might become things of the past.
There are some related issues to all this, but this will do for now.
CENTURION