I defy anyone to defend this....
 

especially any so called conservatives whose salary is payed by taxpayers.....

They only see headcount, disregard the deaths. It's just another statistic?

The guy is an a hole!

Unbelievable. :rolleyes:

I can't imagine anybody defending that.

I can't imagine somebody stupid enough to say that in the first place. This maroon was actually given some authority?

What he's talking about *conceptually* is correct, but he worded it poorly, and from follow-on comments, doesn't really understand the details of what he should be talking about.

Here's what he should be saying - "wait times are not the only metric that we should use to judge the VA. We should also be focusing on patient outcomes (that is the most important), and quality of care - both objective, which is tied to patient outcomes, and subjective, which is where the patient satisfaction comes in. Wait times make up part of those two metrics."

But he didn't say that, and probably won't because he's maybe not the brightest bulb in the knife bucket.

^^

Correct. Wait times don't matter if you have bad outcomes. Wait times are an element of the "experience." However, in matters of health, wait times can cause considerable discomfort and stress and seriously effect the outcome, so they are much more important with medical issues than with entertainment.

Yeah. I get what he is saying. They probably consider patient outcomes the most important metric. Wait times are probably important but not as critical. For one thing, it matters what you're waiting for. Long wait for a less important procedure is not as important as long wait for a critical procedure. But he chose his words very, very poorly.

Also, he's wrong. I'm sure Disney cares a hell of a lot about wait times. Otherwise why would they go all hi-tech with the bands etc.

What an idiot.

I work for Disney, but not in the theme park division. As was said, they are constantly working on wait times. We move over 40,000 people per day at Disneyland and over 50,000/day at Disney World. Each and every day.

Here is the defense...

Our wait times are not as bad as Canadian medical.


...yet.

My FIL lived 7 consecutive months in a VA hospital. Two in ICU. It is not perfect. The people were nice, respectful, and put out real effort. The system's inefficiencies almost killed him. Like anything, the VA is a mixed bag.

Cigarette and a blindfold.

Agreed and I wonder how they define wait time. Is it sitting in the VA waiting? Or is it waiting for the day that you go to the VA?

Pathetic and inexcusable.

Th federal government should not be in the hospital business. Maybe after WWII there was a need but no more.

Medical care is incredibly expensive. The govt probably couldn't afford to pay commercial rates to care for veterans.

Waiting for a Disney park ride, and waiting for treatment of your illness and/or pain seem like opposite ends of the "waiting" spectrum to me.

The same folks who constantly complain about government spending are the same ones who constantly complain about wait lines. Provide enough money to hire enough good doctors and the problem goes away. It is not a particularly difficult concept. How many thousands of dollars are each of you willing to pay to treat veterans a little faster?

Trump hates wait times. Hates them.

I would think Disney would consider wait times to have reached a critical point when people started to leave rather than wait longer. Hasn't reached that point yet. I would think the VA would (should ?) think the critical point is reached (passed ?) when people die waiting. That point has been reached (passed) already.

fin, it's about priorities.

Do we need to visit a list of all the stupid govt programs and expenditures that gets funded by OPM? (against the funders wishes)

Pisses me off that basic things like emergency services are used as bait --the last things funded-- so that tax payers say 'yes' to more taxes.


this^^

It is days waiting for an appointment. The average is around 7 days for nonemergency primary care. Less than I have to wait for an appointment with my doctor.

Almost 100% of those that die (private sector or VA) of non accidental causes are under some sort of medical care...and have some sort of medical appointment...so everyone died waiting. I have poor hearing and regular appointments...and probably will for the rest of my life like folks with heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. All will likely die in between (waiting) on an appointment.

Listing how other taxpayer dollars are spent would be stupid since the VA can only spend money that Congress provides to the VA and only on what Congress tells them to spend it on. It is like you complaining that the baker did not bake you enough bread...despite the fact that you paid your landscaper a lot of money to mow your grass.

That was a set up, wasn't it ?

Of course. The guy who constantly complains about taxes and too many government employees complains that less doctors and more patients means longer wait times. Ironic.

My speculation is that if you are a vet and put up a stink you most likely will get a longer wait time due to attitude. Those admin folks don't like to be pissed off because they have some really amazing power, just like Loretta from the IRS. And they want to show it when challenged.

No little punk SGT. is going to come in here and show me how to run my govt beauracy! We'll fix that attitude!

The thing that galls me the most is not just the long wait times. Why in hell do those VA employees get huge bonuses for doing a great job and all they did was hide the fact that the wait was long. Lots of "off the books" just out wait the patient and let them die. The official list looks great, bonus time for everyone!

VA needs Fast Pass.

They get bonuses because they are paid a fraction of what the private sector earns...and it is essentially for retention.

The real issue is public perception. The wife is a night critical care nurse of near 30 years that just bumped to night nursing supervisor. Hers is the last call for any problem short of senior management getting woken up cause the building is on fire...You wouldn't believe the crap that people grip about in giving a 'satisfaction' score.

There should be only two scores... if you go out the front door the hospital gets 5 stars.... out the back door the patient can give one :D.

Serious... its not a hotel. Its a medial facility. Get well and get out the door!

All the while the level of health care has crept up. Tele units handle same patients that were critical care 10 years ago and critical care patients from a decade ago would be dead today.