Veteran Tele-Town Hall

Veteran Telephone Town Hall Summary for July 7, 2022

 

Same Day Appointments

The easiest way to access the same day appointment is to call the El Paso VA Health Care System main phone number at 915-564-6100, and select the option to make or schedule an appointment. You will be connected to our Call Center and you can tell them that you have a same day appointment need and briefly describe your health issue.

 

Same Day Access Goal

Our goal is to address your concern, or else begin the process within 24 hours after you contact the El Paso VA. It is important to remember not to delay in seeking urgent or emergency care. Same day access is about having the appropriate member of your Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) to address your concern. For example, perhaps you need to send receive your medical records: at that level, your PACT Medical Support Assistant (MSA) can help with that request. Also, same day access would allow you to have the opportunity to engage with the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) on your PACT for basic health care information or treatment.

 

Base Scheduling

The goal of base scheduling will allow you to have more time with LPN ahead of seeing your actual provider.

 

Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT)

The goal of patient aligned care team is the model to provide patient care to you. You are the center of this care team and we can accomplish this by putting you in touch with the right member of your PACT and allowing the PACT to begin the process of addressing your health care issue. We use this PACT model for Primary Care as well as our specialty care; for example, we have a Women’s Health PACT and a Homeless Health PACT. We will continue to strive to put you in touch with the right member of your PACT so that we can address your needs immediately.

 

Women Veterans Tele-Town Hall

The El Paso VA Health Care System has a designated Women Veterans Clinic for primary care, which is located on our second floor. We have two providers that give comprehensive women's health primary care, but you should also know that our primary care providers have the ability to provide well woman exams for all female Veterans. Please speak to your primary care team about these preventative exams, which are very important. Preventative exams are important for our male Veterans as well, such as prostate exams and making sure that you're doing comprehensive primary care and wellness exams. If you have received a PAP smear or a mammogram with one of our community providers, please make sure that you contact the El Paso VA to ensure that we have those reports. We are tracking with all our Veterans, especially those out in the community, to ensure that you're receiving the exams that are appropriate.

 

Pelvic Rehabilitation

We have a unique opportunity to provide pelvic rehabilitation services through our physical therapy department, to include one located in our Westside Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) where you don’t necessarily need to be a patient of the Westside CBOC. Pelvic rehabilitation can assist with just about any dysfunction from the waist to the knees. We have a specialized physical therapist with a lot of training and certifications in pelvic rehabilitation; she works with both genders and she can treat different diagnoses. Both internal and external evaluations can be conducted, while biofeedback training is provided; you will receive information regarding compliance with orthopedic treatment and approaches to make sure you have a well-rounded return to function. Pelvic rehabilitation services can address symptoms such as a painful bladder, urinary incontinence, constipation, generalized pelvic pain or toxic pain that can be experience as lower back pain, prostate surgery requiring rehabilitation services, and any type of pelvic dysfunction.

 

Clinical Contact Center

Our Clinical Contact Center can be reached by calling our main number at 915-564-6100, and you will be presented with options. Option 1 will link you into our automated call center for pharmacy refills, a quick and easy process for you to renew and refill your medication. They also have live pharmacy technicians who can assist you live over the phone if you're having issues with any of those results. Option 2 will get you to our medical support assistants (MSAs) and you can schedule or request an appointment, or make changes to a current appointment, or maybe get information about your appointment that you may have forgotten. If you need to schedule your lab appointments or radiology appointments, they also have the ability to do that as well. Option 3 will you allow you to speak to a Registered Nurse (RN) and we have RNs who are qualified triage over the phone for both primary care needs and any behavioral health needs. Our RNs are trained to use a set of protocols to be able to do an assessment quickly over the phone and provide guidance.

 

Health Promotion & Disease Prevention

We are here to help prevent disease and try to increase your wellness and disease prevention. We will do our best to keep you healthy and out of the hospital or out of the clinic to really meet your health goals. The El Paso VA Health Care System has a lot of programs that we can offer you, and these are programs that you can self-refer, which means you do not need a consult. Our Move Program is a weight management program and is made up of a support group with dieticians and behavioral health coaches that teach you about healthy eating and help you to lose weight. This program has motivational goals that will keep you on track and on target. If losing weight is something that you're interested in, and you need some support and guidance, please consider joining our Move Program and receiving support. We also have our Tobacco Cessation Program, so if you want to quit smoking or tobacco products, now is the time to do so with a very supportive group and health coaches who can help you to do that.  There is also therapy to help wean you off tobacco products. Lastly, we have dieticians that provide individual counseling, Diabetes education, health coaching. Give us a call here at 915-564-6100 and dial extension 6999.