Community Care Utilization Among US Veterans

Key Takeaways:

• In a study with 111 898 US veterans, 81% visited a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) urgent care clinic in 2021 while 19% visited a non-VHA clinic.
• Veterans who initially visited a non-VHA clinic were more likely to receive follow-up specialty care outside the VHA than those who initially went to a VHA clinic.
• Community care utilization had no impact on subsequent non-VHA emergency care visits.

Researchers evaluated the impact of non-VHA urgent care utilization on subsequent emergency care among US veterans.

The study used VHA administrative and community care claims data from the Corporate Data Warehouse. A total of 111 898 veterans were included who visited a VHA or non-VHA urgent care clinic in 2021. Researchers used an instrumental variable (IV) approach to estimate how non-VHA urgent care visits affected subsequent care.

Among the 111 898 veterans identified in the study, 90 651 (81%) visited a VHA urgent care clinic and 21 247 (19%) visited a non-VHA clinic.

Veterans using non-VHA care were more likely to utilize non-VHA specialty care than veterans who visited a VHA clinic. Within 30 days of the first visit, veterans who visited a non-VHA clinic had a 40-percentage point higher rate of follow-up specialty care outside the VHA. Long-term impact was reduced, with only a difference of 28 percentage points.

The IV models showed no significant effect of non-VHA urgent care on subsequent emergency care utilization.

Implications for Veterans Care

These findings indicate that utilization of community urgent care clinics among veterans can increase subsequent short-term use of non-VHA specialty care. However, it had no effect on emergency care utilization.

The authors concluded, “While expanded community care improves access in the short run, it also introduces care coordination challenges throughout an episode of care that may negatively affect health outcomes.”

Reference

Kuwonza FM, Palani S, Smith K, Pizer SD. Veterans’ urgent care use and subsequent utilization in the community. Health Serv Res. 2026;61(4): e70162. doi:10.1111/1475-6773.70162