Article Figures & Data
Tables
- Table 1.
Sample Sizes and Distribution of Veterans Affairs (VA) Appointments around Disaster Impact (Week 0)
Unaffected Areas Affected Areas Total (n) Unique patients (weeks −12 to 12) 197,724 (78.0) 56,790 (22.0) 254,514 Appointments Total (weeks −12 to 12) 897,405 (74.8) 302,490 (25.2) 1,199,895 Before the disaster (weeks −12 to −3) 358,479 (74.6) 122,205 (25.4) 480,684 During the disaster (weeks −2 to 1) 143,450 (74.6) 48,926 (25.4) 192,376 After the disaster (weeks 2–12) 395,476 (75.1) 131,359 (24.9) 526,835 Appointment type Primary care 361,222 (40.3) 128,535 (42.5) 489,757 Mental health 178,782 (19.9) 65,966 (21.8) 244,748 Non-MD providers 192,708 (21.5) 38,579 (12.8) 231,287 Specialty care 137,853 (15.4) 56,295 (18.6) 194,148 Telehealth 26,840 (3.0) 13,115 (4.3) 39,955 Data are no. (%) unless otherwise indicated. For this analysis, affected areas included 1 VA medical center plus 4 distinct outpatient clinic locations, whereas unaffected areas included 9 VA medical centers and 32 distinct outpatient clinic locations.
- Table 2.
Demographic Characteristics among Those with Scheduled Veterans Affairs Appointments around a Natural Disaster (Weeks −12 to 12, with Storm Landfall during Week 0)
Unaffected Areas (n = 197,724) Affected Areas (n = 56,790) Statistically Significant* Age (years), week 0 Yes <45 8.8 10.9 45–64 46.1 48.5 ≥65 45.1 40.6 Sex Yes Male 94.5 93.0 Female 4.7 6.1 Missing/unclear 0.8 0.8 Race/ethnicity Yes White/non-Hispanic 66.1 54.2 Hispanic 0.2 1.5 African American 12.6 19.7 Other 1.7 0.9 Missing 19.4 23.7 Service connection Yes <50% 72.5 76.1 >50% 27.5 23.8 Dual Medicaid 0.1 0.1 No Dual Medicare 49.5 42.4 Yes Missed appointment in past 12 months 33.9 43.8 Yes Veterans Affairs inpatient stay in past 12 months 9.7 11.2 Yes Data are percentages. For this analysis, affected areas included 1 Veterans Affairs medical center (VAMC) plus 4 distinct outpatient clinic locations, whereas unaffected areas included 9 VAMCs and 32 distinct outpatient clinic locations.
↵* P < .001, χ2 or 2-sided t test.
- Table 3.
Sample Ambulatory Care Recovery Metrics, Calculated for the Illustrative Example for the Affected Veterans Affairs Medical Center Location
Business Days to Completed Appointment If Cancelled by the Clinic (median) Recovery* Change in Days to Completed Appointments† (%) Weeks −12 to −3 (1) Weeks −2 to 1 (2) Weeks 2–6 (3) Weeks 7–12 (4) (2) vs (1) (3) vs (1) (4) vs (1) (2) vs (1) (3) vs (1) (4) vs (1) Primary care 45 35 37 38 −10 −8 −7 −22 −18 −16 Mental health 23 30 25 27 7 2 4 30 9 17 Non-MD providers 36 31 37 34 −5 1 −2 −14 3 −6 Specialty care 38 37 47 42 −1 9 4 -3 24 11 Telehealth 13 17 15 19 4 2 6 31 15 46 - Table 4.
Summary of Resiliency Findings for Veterans Affairs Clinics Affected by the Natural Disaster (Week 0)
Difference in Completed Appointments vs Prior Week (%) −5 (vs −6) −4 (vs −5) −3 (vs −2) −2 (vs −1) −1 (vs −2) 0* (vs −1) 1 (vs 0) 2 (vs 1) 3 (vs 2) 4 (vs 3) 5 (vs 4) Unaffected areas 0 1 −1 −5 6 −2 1 0 1 0 2 All affected areas 8 −3 3 −7 −7 −17 25 5 1 −1 2 VAMC 9 −4 2 −5 −8 −13 22 3 1 −2 2 Clinic B 5 0 2 −21 −4 −37 50 16 4 −4 2 Clinic C −2 −1 3 −22 17 −26 27 3 −8 3 −4 Clinic D 19 −11 13 −5 −28 −32 36 18 −1 1 1 Clinic E 1 2 2 4 −9 −37 38 4 −1 −6 9 The table includes differences in the percentage of completed appointments compared with the prior week for all appointment types in the analytic sample (primary care, specialty care, mental health, telehealth, and other health professions). Italics indicates a decrease by >5%; underlining indicates an increase of >5%; boldface indicates a change (positive or negative) of >10% from the prior week.
↵* Landfall.
VAMC, Veterans Affairs medical center.
