VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (TVHS) will begin locally scheduling community care appointments for enrolled Veterans on starting today (Feb. 3, 2020).

For several years, TVHS has contracted TriWest to coordinate appointments with community providers for Veterans who meet certain criteria. This change means Veterans will no longer receive calls from TriWest staff to schedule community care appointments. Instead, they'll get those calls from TVHS employees.

"While this is a big change for us, our goal is to make it seamless for Veterans," said Shannon Bales, TVHS community care manager. "The process won't change."

That process starts with a referral from a VA provider. Once referred for community care, Veterans will get a phone call to answer some questions about the best time and date for an appointment. It will work the same way when TVHS staff take over the duties of scheduling appointments.

Veterans don't need to do anything to ensure current community care continues. TriWest will continue to coordinate appointments for referrals for care prior to Feb. 1.

"Existing care will not be impacted," said Bales. "We won't need any additional information from our Veterans to ensure their care continues."

TVHS is an integrated tertiary health care system comprised of two hospitals, the Alvin C. York Campus in Murfreesboro and the Nashville Campus, as well as more than a dozen community-based outpatient clinics located in Tennessee and Kentucky. TVHS provides ambulatory care, primary care, and secondary care in acute medicine and surgery, specialized tertiary care, transplant services, spinal cord injury outpatient care, and a full range of extended care and mental health services.