I agree that the VA in Gainesville is top-notch and I am grateful to be able to get my medical needs attended to there.
Any medical provider in any department of the VA hospital, outpatient or inpatient, knows what your current status is and what complaints you are being treated for and where, including when your appointments are and what medications you’re on. That’s because their computer system is comprehensive and has all of your pertinent medical history and treatment available for perusal by the staff. They call to remind you of your appointments, as well as write letters to confirm the appointments. I can call or go online to renew my prescriptions and they mail them to my home. The private sector care was much more fractured and disassociated from one another.
My doctor runs behind on her appointments sometimes and I may have to wait awhile to get into my own appointment, but on the other hand, she is very thorough, spends time discussing your problems and answering all my questions. She doesn’t shuttle me in and out like a factory system in the private sector, where 10 minutes is the average visit time with the doctor. In the private sector I had to drive to different facilities for lab work or x-rays or MRI or pharmacy and then wait for those results to be forwarded to my personal physician before I could make an appointment to see them. At the VA, everything is done right on site and the results and known, in most cases, the same day.
It may not be the best care there is but it is the best I’ve ever had.
Absolutely no arguments here about the Gainesville VA (Malcomb Randall). The best most comprehensive care I have ever received. They are timely, prescriptions are mailed or if I am there for an appointment I stop by the pharmacy. Doctors are good and up to date on everything, even the new lab is great. They always coordinate care and have excellent EMRs as you stated.
No complaints at all, by far the best VA hospital I have ever encountered.
Take care...