Metro West Times

The VA Boston Health Care System, subsidiary 523GA in Framingham, Massachusetts, scheduled 392 pending appointments during the period ending March 1, according to data collected from the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Of the total number of appointments, 376 had a wait time of 30 days or less (95.9%) and 16 appointments (4.1%) were scheduled more than 30 days out.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in January 2019 reported wait times for new appointments at VA health care facilities were similar to or better than wait times at private-sector providers between 2014 and 2017.

However, the Government Accountability Office released a report in July 2019 cautinging the VA's data-tracking system only captures part of the appointment process and fails to account for the time that it takes the VA to enroll veterans in its health benefits program.

The VA explains when veterans apply for benefits, they are assigned to one of eight priority groups, with those who need immediate care due to service-related disabilities placed in higher priority groups. Veterans who do not have service-connected disabilities and earn a higher income are placed in the lower priority groups.

Facility Code	Location	Total Appointments Scheduled	Appointments Scheduled 30 Days or Less	Appointments Scheduled More than 30 Days
523	Boston	32,308	29,398	2,910
523A5	Brockton	23,873	23,005	868
523A4	West Roxbury	14,665	13,434	1,231
523BY	Lowell	5,896	5,484	412
523BZ	Boston	1,342	1,300	42
523GA	Framingham	392	376	16
523GD	Plymouth	194	184	10
523GC	Quincy	165	160	5
523MA	IDES Hanscom AFB	3	3	0

Source: U.S. Veteran's Administration