Just visit the VA Financial Services Center (FSC) Customer Engagement Portal to complete the Payment Account Setup web form. It’s a federal requirement. 

Sign up today!

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is actively monitoring the nationwide outages caused by cybersecurity breach impacting Change Healthcare this week. VA has taken swift action to disconnect from all known systems with Change Healthcare and is aggressively collecting data to identify impacts on Veterans.

While many non-VA pharmacies are impacted, VA pharmacies are not. If Veterans are experiencing a problem filling a prescription by a VA-authorized community provider, they should contact their local VA pharmacy or call 1-800-MyVA411 (1-800-698-2411).

Our highest priority is protecting Veterans’ personal information, proactively managing impacts to facility operations, and ensuring our systems and services are available to Veterans, their families, and caregivers. We will continue to monitor the situation and proactively update stakeholders as more information becomes available.

A tai chi instructor in VA’s Community Care Network understands the benefits of integrating complementary approaches like tai chi into overall health and wellness routines. He shares his thoughts on the practice and its many health benefits, describing tai chi as a form of moving meditation that can be done standing, sitting or lying down. Read a VA CCN provider’s personal story of rehabilitating from an injury and regaining his strength through tai chi.

A new clinical research trial at Michael E. DeBakey VA is offering Veterans with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) hope for the future. Ten Veterans with ALS will receive groundbreaking cell therapy targeted at reducing neuroinflammation as a treatment for the disease.

ALS is a rare, rapidly progressing, and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects Veterans twice as often as people who did not serve in the military. People with ALS experience muscle weakness, loss of movement, and difficulty breathing and swallowing, resulting in a severe decline in quality of life and eventual death.

VA is moving towards 100% use of electronic fund transfer (EFT) for paying Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) claims.

Visit the VA Financial Services Center (FSC) Customer Engagement Portal and complete the Payment Account Setup web form to enroll into EFT.

Getting paid by EFT isn’t optional, it’s a federal requirement. Make the move today.

Resources:
Department of the Treasury Direct Deposit (EFT)
VA FSC Customer Engagement Portal
Community Care Provider Payments
CHAMPVA - Information for Providers

Purcell Johnson served during WWII from 1943 to 1946. Johnson was from Dahlgren, Virginia, and after registering for Selective Service in 1942, he worked at the Dahlgren Navy Yard before enlisting in the Class III Volunteer Marine Corps Reserve in October 1943. Along with his younger brother, he eventually became a Marine at Montford Point Camp in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

Johnson served in the 7th Separate Infantry Battalion and then transferred to the 29th Marine Depot Company in July 1944 when he was promoted to corporal. He was stationed at Banika Island, where his unit provided logistical support to other Marine units. He later relocated to Guam, where he earned his sergeant stripes in July 1945. In January 1946, he became a military policeman. Johnson returned to the States and was honorably discharged. He served three years in the Marine Corps Reserve, including two of those years overseas. He was celebrated as an aircraft mechanic with Trans World Airlines in his post-military career.

Johnson died in April 2002. He was 78. In January 2024, his sister, Pvt. Romay Johnson Davis, received his posthumous bronze replica of the Congressional Gold Medal during a ceremony in Montgomery on his behalf, making him the third sibling with this medal. Check out more of Purcell Johnson's story here.

Nicole Mitchell Colley - Army Veteran

Nicole Mitchell Colley joined the Army Reserves in 2003 at 17 as a Human Resources Specialist. She transitioned to active duty, reclassed to a Financial Management Specialist in 2005, and was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from 2006-2014. She deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2010-2011.

She is also an author and wrote, “I Am Beautifully Made: A Self-Love and Self-Discovery Journal, Just Text Me: A Mindfulness and Self-Love Journal for Teens, and Until I Can Hold You in Heaven: A Journal for Reflection and Navigating the Loss of a Baby.”

“By sharing their experiences through literature and storytelling, women Veterans can help raise awareness about the unique challenges they face, as well as the contributions they have made to our country,” says Mitchell Colley. “Through these stories, we can gain a deeper understanding of the sacrifices and struggles that these women have faced and the resilience and strength they possess.”

Check out more of Nicole Mitchell Colley's story here.

We honor their service.

VA recently released its 2024 Agency Equity Action Plan to help ensure delivery on its promise to provide world-class care and benefits to all Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors ― regardless of their age, race, ethnicity, sex, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or geographic location.

First steps include educating transitioning service members on VA benefits and helping them apply for health care. VA also pledged to conduct more research on disparities in VA benefits usage, including health care usage rates among women Veterans and trust rates among minority groups in the Veterans community.

“It’s our job to provide every Veteran with the world-class care and benefits they deserve, no matter who they are, what they look like, who they love, where they are from, or how they identify,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “That means investigating any disparities in VA health care and benefits and eliminating them – and that’s exactly what this new study and plan will help us do. We will not rest until any and all disparities at VA are a thing of the past.”

You can check out VA’s official announcement here.

Last month, the Joint Commission and National Quality Forum announced VA’s Surgical Pause practice has been recognized with the prestigious John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award in the National Level Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality category for its innovative efforts resulting in improved health care outcomes of frail Veterans considering surgery.

The Surgical Pause uses a risk analysis index to screen Veterans for frailty in 30 seconds, effectively flagging high-risk Veterans so the surgical team can ensure proposed treatment plans to mitigate known risks and align with the Veterans’ overarching life goals. Routine frailty screening rapidly identifies the 5-10% of patients who experience disproportionately high rates of postoperative complications, loss of independence and mortality. For these patients, a brief “pause” permits further evaluation to review care goals and optimize treatment plans.

This initiative has already been launched at 50 VA facilities and is rolling out across the nation. A 2023 study published in JAMA Surgery reported that from July 1, 2016, to May 31, 2019, one-year mortality fell from 20% to 16% after implementing the Surgical Pause in a sample of more than 50,000 patients.