hi everyone and welcome to our video today my name is instructor oliver and today we are going to review the veterans healthcare administration the vha and women's health services let's get started what is the veterans health administration the vha the veterans health administration is the largest integrated health care system in the united states the executive in charge office of the under secretary for health directs this health care system with an annual budget of approximately 68 billion dollars overseeing the delivery of care to more than 9 million enrolled veterans they employ more than 322 000 full-time healthcare professionals and support staff at 1255 healthcare facilities including 170 va medical centers and 1074 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity including outpatient clinics bha is the nation's largest provider of graduate medical education and a major contributor to medical and scientific research more than 73 000 active volunteers 127 thousand health profession trainees and approximately fifteen thousand affiliated medical factory um faculty are also an integral part of the vha community the vha's mission is quite simple to honor america's veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being services covered by the vha so certain things that would be covered under this type of coverage would be preventative care services like health exams including gender specific exams health education including nutrition education immunization against infectious diseases like the flu shot counseling on genetic diseases so diseases that run in the family they would also cover inpatient hospital services like surgeries medical treatments kidney dialysis acute care so um short term treatment for severe illnesses or injuries after a surgery specialized care so that would be care that would include organ transplants intensive care for mental and physical conditions and care for traumatic injuries they would also cover urgent and emergency care services at certain va health facilities so urgent care for injuries and illnesses that need attention right away but that aren't life-threatening um at urgent care locations that are part of their contracted network okay so these can include care at va approved walk-in retail health clinics for minor illnesses like a sore throat or an earache or at an urgent care facility for more pressing but not life-threatening illnesses or injuries that require treatment like splinting casting or wound care they would also be covered for mental health services to treat certain issues like post-traumatic stress disorders so ptsd military sexual trauma mst depression and substance use problems they would be covered to a certain degree for assisted living and home health care depending on the member's needs and income as well as space in the program prescriptions written or approved by a va doctor would also be covered they may cover services that that the members va primary care provider would state that is needed to support a particular treatment so ancillary services so these would be like tests used to diagnose health conditions including blood work x-rays ultrasounds um therapy and rehabilitation services this would include physical therapy vision rehab and therapy for traumatic brain injury additional services would include prosthetic items so care for hearing loss and radiation oncology for cancer care they would also cover routine eye exams um and in some cases they might offer coverage for eyeglasses or services for blind or low vision rehabilitation and in certain cases a member might be able to receive dental care as part of their va health benefits women veteran have become a more significant part of the fastest growing group within the veteran population based on a 2015 study approximately 43 percent of women veterans were va patients every year the va adds and makes improvements to their offered services based on demographic population with more women joining the military the services offered are usually tweaked to fit and accommodate the need by instituting a variety of services and upgrading the services when needed the va manages to maintain a standard of care for women vets that are seeking services the va provides specific services for women they provide primary care services that include general services like disease prevention and nutrition counseling female specific services that would include birth control pre-conception counseling and menopausal support such as hormone replacement therapy they offer screening services like cervical cancer screens or pap smears they offer breast cancer screens with mammographies or mammograms mental health services for depression post-traumatic stress disorder so ptsd and also for substance use problems um they also offer free confidential private counseling and treatment for mental and physical health conditions related to military sexual trauma okay they also provide specialty services which would include screening and management of chronic meaning long lasting conditions like heart disease and diabetes screening and management of sexually transmitted diseases so stds like hiv and aids and hepatitis they offer maternity care and other reproductive health services treatment for sexual problems urinary incontinence and other issues um prosthetic and sensory aids services like prosthetic limbs hearing aids um post mastectomy items and things like that um they also offer referrals for physical therapy occupational therapy speech language therapy and other rehabilitation therapies um the one thing that they will not um allow for or or cover right by law is abortions abortions are not covered under the va for women okay um through a legislation which was announced in january of 2017 they are expanding their fertility services to include counseling and treatment using assisted um reproductive technologies so it would include in vitro fertilization um so those services would be available to the vets themselves to the women and also um to the husbands i guess if they need some kind of um some kind of medication or any form of treatment to to help with whatever problem they're having conceding thank you so much for listening in on today's video topic i hope you found it to be helpful and informative um again thank you and have a great day