In August 2014, President Obama signed into law the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act (VACAA) of 2014, which directed the establishment of a new program to better meet the health care needs of our Veterans. The law established the Veterans Choice Program (VCP) and the Veterans Affairs Patient-Centered Community Care (VAPC3) program. Triwest is the coordinator of scheduling, paying and authorizing referrals for our veterans with non-VA providers such as Eye Associates.
To make it easier to appoint Veterans, Eye Associates created a special phone line for Triwest Care Coordinators to contact EANM. The dedicated number is (505) USA-Vets / (505)872-8387. This line is answered directly at Regina Hall with the ability to schedule for all EANM locations. Val Tso is the primary contact for this line and has done a phenomenal job.
VCP provides eligible Veterans with access to primary care, inpatient and outpatient specialty services and behavioral health care. With the VCP, Veterans can seek care from private sector providers if :
- They face wait times longer than 30 days for care from a VA medical facility;
- The closest VA medical facility is greater than 40 from their home; or
- The closest VA medical facility is not easily accessible from their home, due to geographic barriers (mountains, large body of water, etc.)
VAPC3 is a program intended to provide Veterans coordinated, timely access to high quality care from a comprehensive network of VA and non-VA civilian community providers. The VAPC3 program is designed to ensure Veterans receive coordinated, evidence-based care through non-VA civilian community providers when VA facilities are not able to provide needed specialty. We receive routine and non-routine authorizations via Triwest from the local Veterans Administration.
Our relationship with Triwest and VA continues to thrive with the dedication for exceptional service provided by our schedulers, technicians, providers and billing staff. I especially would like to recognize the efforts of Val Tso, Melissa Halsey, Fran Vallo, Maria Contreras, Sonja Lucero, Regina Simms , and the IS team for helping to develop the special relationship we have with the VA, Triwest and especially our nations Veterans.