PAWTUCKET, RI – In an effort to ensure more accountability, shorter wait times, and better health care for veterans at the Providence VA Medical Center, U.S. Senator Jack Reed today met with veterans, doctors, and Veterans Affairs (VA) officials to discuss new efforts to improve access to care.  Reed, a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the VA, recently helped pass the Veterans Access to Care Through Choice, Accountability and Transparency Act, which includes $16.3 billion to hire more doctors and nurses; build and upgrade VA facilities; and make it easier for veterans to get health care from non-VA providers.

Speaking at an event today at Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket, Reed stated: “Our veterans deserve health care that works for them.  The VA reform bill includes needed resources to help the Providence VA and other VA hospitals around the country cut down on wait times, hire more medical staff, and upgrade facilities.  It also includes new commitments to transparency and efficiency, including modernizing electronic health records.”

Reed is also backing a series of executive actions that President Obama announced today to help strengthen access to mental health care by members of the military, reduce veterans homelessness, improve the transition for those leaving the military from care administered by the Defense Department to the VA system, help veterans obtain manageable mortgages, and foster suicide prevention and better treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“I am pleased the President is taking additional steps to improve care for our veterans and address their needs.  Our veterans have made incredible sacrifices and we need to not only keep our promises to them, but work every day to build and strengthen the VA system and expand services to veterans here in Rhode Island.”

Senator Reed worked to make Providence the first regional VA office in the nation to install a new Veterans Benefit Management System (VBMS).  Today, he was joined by members of the Rhode Island Congressional delegation; Dan Evangelista, Chief, RI Division of Veterans Affairs; Dr. Susan MacKenzie, Director of the Providence VA Medical Center; Laura L. Adams, President and CEO of the Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI); and Dr. David Ashley, primary care physician and RI National Guard member as they discussed efforts to enhance the use of electronic health records to improve patient care and reduce health care costs.  Senator Reed and the other speakers encouraged more veterans to consider enrolling in a free service called CurrentCare.

Currently, nearly 1 in 3 Rhode Islanders are enrolled in the CurrentCare system, which allows medical professionals to access up-to-date medical information that is crucial to patient care, no matter the setting.  That means patients’ information would be accessible to doctors in any hospital in Rhode Island – even outside of the VA.  And in the event of an emergency, physicians will be able to consult the network to access important health information, when they would otherwise be in the dark. 

“This network, which more than 400,000 Rhode Islanders have joined, leverages state of the art technology to better inform your doctors about your health care needs, allowing medical professionals to spend more time caring for patients, rather than repeating costly tests,” said Reed.  “By enrolling in CurrentCare, your health care professionals will be able to communicate with one another to improve your care.  This means doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and labs in Rhode Island, both inside and outside the VA system, can work together to make sure your care is consistent and coordinated.”

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