Waiting for inpatient hospital care: experience at a VA facility

Inpatient care from hospitals operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is offered free of charge to many eligible veterans. Others must make nominal co-payments. As a result, in contrast to the private sector, money prices do not serve as an allocation mechanism for inpatient care. Many VA hospitals must therefore rely on waiting lists as implicit allocation devices. This study examines the effects of waiting at one large VA facility. Using multivariate statistical techniques on survey data from 195 veterans, the influence of factors that determine willingness to wait for VA inpatient care is estimated. The results suggest that willingness to wait depends on the expected benefits of waiting before treatment can be received. The impact of the monetary and non-monetary costs imposed by waiting is small. As VA waiting lists continue to grow, social workers discharge planners and other providers should investigate the tolerance for waiting and incorporate this information into plans for service provision.