Lisa Freeman, Interim Network Director for the Veterans Administration’s VISN 18 (www.va.gov/directory/guide/region.asp?ID=18) appeared before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs on August 8th to discuss the New Mexico VA Health Care System’s (NMVAHCS) (www.albuquerque.va.gov) accomplishments. She emphasized how veterans are receiving healthcare in rural areas but also how veterans are able to access mental healthcare in the state.
The NMVAHCS serves veterans in New Mexico, Southern Colorado (Durango area), and West Texas. The NMVAHCS is comprised of the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque plus 13 Community-Based Outpatient Clinics. The medical center provides a full range of patient care services utilizing state-of-the-art technology as well as providing further education and research information.
Over 45 percent of New Mexico’s 170,799 veterans live in rural areas within the state. About 74,713 New Mexico veterans are enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) healthcare and 47 percent of those veterans live in rural areas.
The VHA’s Office of Rural Health (ORH) (www.ruralhealth.va.gov) currently supports nine projects in New Mexico in rural areas for $1.9 million. Five of these nine projects use telehealth technology to deliver healthcare. One currently-funded ORH initiative is the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) program serving rural areas near Santa Fe and Artesia to provide primary care services for frail and chronically ill veterans in their own homes. Another ORH supported initiative focuses on diabetes education and overall health and wellness for Southern Ute American Indian veterans.
According to Freeman, telehealth is really expanding in the state. In FY 2013, NMVAHCS served 5,168 veterans through telehealth and 59 percent of these veterans lived in rural areas. About 21.002 veterans were able to access mental health services through Clinical Video Technology (CVT), since 90 percent of these veterans live in rural areas.
The VHA offers expanded access to mental health services via telemental health capabilities. In areas where community-based outpatient clinics do not have a mental healthcare provider, the VA connects veterans to providers within the VA using teleconferencing technology. The program is also expanding directly into the homes of veterans using IP video on the veterans’ personal computers.
There is increased support for group specialty care through the expanded use of CVT. The use of this technology in homes is on the rise, especially aimed to assist American Indian veterans. Other initiatives include expanding telehealth specialty services such as anticoagulation, but also to provide additional information on health issues and to conduct health fairs.
NMVAHCS is going to continue to recruit and fill mental health vacancies, realign all outpatient mental health programs under one outpatient mental health division, explore recruitment incentives to entice psychiatrists to relocate to NMVAHS, and increase the number of Albuquerque-based mental health clinicians trained in and certified to deliver telehealth and other virtual care modalities.