Patient characteristics and eligibility in a Veterans Administration ambulatory care triage clinic.

We surveyed 5,225 consecutive patients presenting to a Veterans Administration (VA) Ambulatory Care Triage Clinic to ascertain the characteristics of patients and to assess the role of eligibility in determining disposition from triage. Most patients (66 per cent) had non-service connected (low eligibility) conditions and had no health insurance (64 per cent). Lack of service connected priority (high eligibility) did not influence access to hospitalization (8.3 per cent) or longitudinal outpatient care (24.5 per cent). The study suggests that veterans with no health insurance, with low eligibility for VA service, use the VA triage clinic for episodic medical care.