Dust Off: Eligible veterans with spinal cord injuries, diseases have … – TCPalm

Dr. Dana Matthews, YourNews contributor 6:04 p.m. ET May 11, 2017

Dana Matthews Dust Off(Photo: Submitted photo)

PORT ST.LUCIE -- For most veterans, the decision of when, where and how to receive health care can be one of the most challenging decisions we can make.

One decision is whether to use the Veterans Choice Program.

The Veterans Choice Program (VCP) provides primary care, inpatient and outpatient specialty care, and behavioral health care options. Eligible Veterans must also meet at least one of the following criteria:

Many veterans with SCI/D meet the medical condition as well as other criteria. Consequently, some of the barriers to timely medical care for VA SCI/D patients have been eliminated by using the Veteran's Choice Program (VCP).

VCP is an appropriate option when VA SCI/D patients seek care for treatments that don't require special expertise to diagnose or treat.

Conditions such as broken bones, flu, pneumonia and urinary tract infection are a few appropriate conditions for the VCP.

But spinal cord injuries and diseases along with their associated problems, can proven extremely vexing and challenging for the most experienced healthcare providers when treating fairly healthy SCI/D patients. Unfortunately, most of us with SCI/D come with a rucksack full of maladies.

Some, if not most, community health care providers have never encountered Autonomic Dysreflexia (AD) which is a potentially life threatening syndrome that develops in individuals with SCI/D, resulting in uncontrolled hypertension.

Nor are most community health care providers trained and equipped to recognize muscle spasticity, a condition common to SCI/D patients in which muscles are continuously contracted. This contraction causes stiffness or tightness of the muscles and can interfere with normal movement, speech and gait.

Muscle spasticity can often be confused by community providers with a seizure. Consequently, the chosen course of treatment for what is perceived to be a common problem may not appropriate for the not so common VA SCI/D patient.

For that reason, the Veteran's Choice Program, which offers faster access to care, may not lead to faster access to the appropriate care to treat a particular health problem for the complex VA SCI/D patients.

For more information visit https://www.sci.va.gov/ or contact the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center Social Work Department at 561-422-6846.

Dana Matthews is a retired Lieutenant Colonel, US Army Ranger and a Veterans Advocate.

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