Curtailing the Disconnection and Isolation Killing Our Veterans

A new report on veteran suicide by the Department of Veterans Affairs details a troubling finding about veteran isolation, which helps explain the rising suicide rate among those who served in the armed forces. 

Something is terribly wrong in the government’s approach to stemming veteran suicide when the men and women standing on the abyss overwhelmingly are not accessing, or declining to access, the very system that can save them. 

The detachment comes as the suicide rate remains tragically high among veterans, particularly among younger veterans. The same report found: 

These latest statistics underscore the importance of ending isolation among veterans, because isolation is a powerful precursor to suicidal patterns. As the VA concludes in its summation of the research, social isolation is “arguably the strongest and most reliable predictor of suicidal ideation, (suicide) attempts, and lethal suicidal behavior.” 

From the perspective of my organization, dedicated to preventing isolation and curtailing suicide among veterans, the VA’s push to modernize its electronic health records (EHR) system will provide a major step in continuity of care, which is essential for keeping veterans connected to the VA. 

The advent of a new record-keeping system across 170 VA medical centers and 1,193 outpatient sites around the nation that serve approximately 9.1 million veterans might sound like a minor, logistical turn of the screw. It isn’t.

One of the main issues I hear from veterans is that the legacy records system is clunky and clumsy, that veterans often must provide their health histories to different clinicians, particularly if they use multiple VA medical centers. 

This matters especially for those on the edge. Modernized records keeping sends a strong signal to the individual patient that “they are listening to me because I don’t have to cover the same old ground.” It keeps them connected to the VA and support networks. And if they are connected, they are far less likely to harm themselves. 

At the level of the individual veteran, the new EHR system, under development by Oracle Health, can make strides in ending isolation and ensuring continuity of care. Once it works as advertised, it will be able to receive a service member’s medical records stored at the Department of Defense for a seamless handoff. 

Veterans no longer will need to repeat tests or repeat basic info, such as drug allergies, to each provider. Their health risks will be better tracked by clinicians and identified earlier --before spiraling out of control. They will benefit from improved strategies to address suicide risk, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. If they move from one state or region to another, their records will follow. 

Adoption of the EHR system has lagged, both due to earlier developmental problems and inadequate training of VA staff and related issues, the Government Accountability Office found in 2023. As a result, only six of the VA’s medical centers currently are using it since the Trump administration launched the effort back in 2017. 

But after a hiatus to work out the technical kinks, the agency is set to renew deployment in April at four VA facilities in Michigan and nine additional sites later this year. The effort is due for completion by 2031. 

The hope is that by knitting veterans into the VA system through better electronic records that allow for continuity of care and earlier effective intervention, more vets will stay connected and choose life. 

Frank Larkin is a former Navy SEAL, 40th U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms and father of a Navy SEAL son who died by suicide, Larkin is chairman of Warrior Call, which is dedicated to ending isolation and suicide among veterans.