ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2024
"It's Like Finding Your Way Through the Labyrinth": a Qualitative Study of Veterans' Experiences Accessing Healthcare.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- A rapid review of the barriers and facilitators of mental health service access among Veterans and their families.Frontiers in health services · 2024Pooled it
- Racial and Ethnic Differences in Healthcare Experiences for Veterans Receiving Care from VA and Non-VA Providers.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Observational
- Perspectives of Rural and Urban Veterans with Military Sexual Trauma Seeking Psychotherapy Through Community Care: A Qualitative Study.The journal of behavioral health services & research · 2026Article
- "Hit or Miss": Rural Veterans' Experiences Receiving Community Mental Health Care.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2026Article
- Patient Experience of Presurgical Care for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Across Treatment Sites in the Veterans Affairs Health System: A Qualitative Analysis.Journal of hand surgery global online · 2026Article
- Pathways into homelessness and perspectives on prevention: A qualitative study of army veterans.PloS one · 2026Article
- Patient Perspectives on Prior Authorization for Cancer Care.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Barriers and Facilitators to Cross-Institutional Referrals: System Configuration Analysis of VA Staff Experiences.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
- Dissemination, adaptation, and uptake of patient-facing materials to improve care coordination in primary care.PEC innovation · 2025Article
- Perinatal healthcare inequities: A qualitative causal network analysis.Pregnancy (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025Article
- Exploring Veterans' Experiences Accessing Chronic Pain Treatment in the VA Community Care Network.Journal of general internal medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe 2014 Veterans Choice Act and subsequent 2018 Veteran's Affairs (VA) Maintaining Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act (MISSION Act) are legislation which clarified Veteran access to healthcare provided by non-VA clinicians (community care). These policies are of particular importance to Veterans living in rural areas, who tend to live farther from VA medical facilities than urban Veterans.
objectiveTo understand Veterans' experiences of the MISSION Act and how it impacted their access to primary care to inform future interventions with a focus on reaching rural Veterans.
designQualitative descriptive design.
participantsUnited States (US) Veterans in Northwestern states engaged in VA and/or community care. APPROACH: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of Veterans between August 2020 and September 2021. Interview domains focused on barriers and facilitators of healthcare access. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. KEY
resultsWe interviewed 28 Veterans; 52% utilized community care as their primary source of care and 36% were from rural or frontier areas. Three main themes emerged: (1) Veterans described their healthcare experiences as positive but also frustrating (billing and prior authorization were noted as top frustrations); (2) Veterans with medical complexities, living far from healthcare services, and/or seeking women's healthcare services experienced additional frustration due to increased touch points with VA systems and processes; and (3) financial resources and/or knowledge of the VA system insulated Veterans from frustration with healthcare navigation.
conclusionsDespite provisions in the MISSION Act, Veteran participants described persistent barriers to healthcare access. Patient characteristics that required increased interaction with VA processes exacerbated these barriers, while financial resources and VA system knowledge mitigated them. Interventions to improve care coordination or address access barriers across VA and community care settings could improve access and reduce health inequities for Veterans-especially those with medical complexities, those living far from healthcare services, or those seeking women's healthcare.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.