Billig JI, Lu YT, Hayward RA, et al. - This study was sought to correlate wait times for carpal tunnel release (CTR) at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital and its academic affiliate. Patients who had undergone CTR at a VA hospital and its academic affiliate (AA) (2010–2015) were selected in the study. Researchers examined time from primary care physician (PCP) referral to CTR, which was subcategorized into PCP referral to surgical consultation and surgical consultation to CTR. They classified electrodiagnostic testing in relation to surgical consultation (prereferral vs post referral). Associations between clinical variables and surgical location were examined by using Multivariable Cox proportional hazard models. The results of this study illustrated that VA was correlated with a shorter overall time to CTR compared with its AA. It has been considered that the VA policy of prioritizing time from referral to surgical consultation may not optimally incentivize time to surgery. In both systems, repeat EDS was correlated with longer wait times.