VA doesn't know how many calls its answering or how long veterans are waiting to get through

"The Veterans Affairs Department is failing to track how many calls from its patients it is answering and what is happening with those calls, according to a flash report from the agency's watchdog, which said the failures are putting vulnerable veterans at risk. In 13 of the 15 medical facilities the inspector general reviewed, key data including caller hang up rates, answer rates and average wait times were not being tracked."

"At those facilities, around 1 million of the 2.1 million calls received in the one-year period ending July 31, 2025, were not tracked. The situation was particularly acute for "high-risk" patients seeking radiology or mental health services, the auditors found. Around 45% of the untracked calls were to clinics in those two fields, which the IG said put "veterans who may need timely and critical care at risk.""

"The IG said it spoke to veterans who faced delays, causing uncertainty and frustration. In one example, a veteran's spouse said she made multiple calls to her local VA to schedule a radiology appointment but those calls went to voicemail with no response within the promised 24-hour window. Her husband's cancer may have spread, the auditors found, making the appointment critical."

VA facilities failed to track critical call-handling metrics at most inspected sites, leaving about 1 million of 2.1 million calls untracked during the year ending July 31, 2025. High-risk clinics, especially radiology and mental health, accounted for roughly 45% of untracked calls, increasing the risk of delayed or missed critical care. VA issued a 2023 directive requiring all phone service lines to collect and analyze call data and set goals to answer 80% of calls within 30 seconds and keep abandoned calls under 5%. Reported consequences include unanswered voicemails for urgent appointments and veterans driving to facilities to schedule care.

Read at Nextgov.com