Dive Brief:

• The Dept. of Veterans Affairs fell short in caring for the 390,000 female vets who visited VA hospitals and clinics in 2013, according to an Associated Press report. That is despite the troubled system's $1.3 billion-plus investment since 2008 aimed at improving such care. AP said even the head of VA's office of women's health acknowledges persistent shortcomings.
• Among AP's findings: nearly one in four VA hospitals lacks a full-time gynecologist on staff; most women referred outside the system by community-based clinics didn't get mammogram results within two weeks, and 45% of results didn't get into their VA electronic health records; and female vets are put on VA's electronic waiting list (for new patients who can't be scheduled for an appointment within 90 days) at a higher rate than their male peers.
• Separately, about 65% of senior executives at VA got performance bonuses last year, the agency said June 20. Nationwide, 300-plus VA executives got a combined $2.7 million in bonuses, down from about $3.4 million in bonuses paid in 2012.

Dive Insight:

After acknowledging problems, Patricia Hayes, VA's chief consultant for women's health, said that as the number of female vets increases dramatically, VA is "going to continue to be able to adjust to these circumstances quickly." Why hasn't the VA healthcare system made a gradual and steady adjustment to female patients? While 5.3 million male vets used VA's system in fiscal 2013, far outpacing female vets' visits, the number of female vets getting care there has more than doubled since 2000. And the number of female vets, many of child-bearing age, has risen steadily year after year. If female vets' growing presence is a known, shouldn't VA's need to handle their differing healthcare needs also come as no surprise? 

As for bonuses, the $2.7 million figure excludes tens of millions of dollars in bonuses to doctors, dentists and other medical providers throughout VA's nearly 900 hospitals and clinics. In Phoenix, where officials have confirmed dozens of VA patients died while awaiting treatment, about 650 VA employees, including doctors, nurses and administrators, got about $3.9 million in merit-based bonuses last year.