VA Health Care Ahead of Private Sector. Still

As I talk with health care IT folks around the country, I'm always astounded by the number of them that have little understanding of the various forms of care delivery - or even a recent visit to a care facility, other than as a patient - and a lack of knowledge regarding the excellent care delivered by the VA. Yes, the Veterans Administration. For those of you who still don't know that the VA delivers the best care anywhere, this one's for you. For those of you who knew, it apparently is still the standard. I won't duplicate the numerous posts below, but here's more recent proof that the VA's model is worth studying.

In a recent study published in "Medical Care", the studies authors found that the VA outperforms the private sector when it comes to following recommended processes for patient care. Report authors cite the use of information technology as a possible reason, but the VA also has initiated the use of checklists as well.

The research team included people from the VA, RAND Corp. and two universities reviewed who looked at a range of studies of diseases common among veterans, such as diabetes, heart disease and depression. The VA's integration of healthcare settings, use of performance measures with an accountability framework, disease-management practices and electronic medical records and health information technology were all thought to significantly contribute to the better ourcomes.

The review found:

Nine studies comparing VA and non-VA care in general showed greater adherence to accepted processes of care – or better health outcomes – in VA.
Five studies of mortality following a heart attack or other coronary event found similar survival rates in VA and non-VA settings.
Three studies of care after a heart attack found greater rates of evidence-based drug therapy in VA; one found lower use of clinically appropriate angiography (blood vessel imaging) in VA.
Three studies of diabetes care found VA to have better adherence to guidelines.
Three studies found higher rates of vaccination against flu and pneumonia for the elderly in VA.
"This report is strong evidence of the advancements VA continues to make in improving healthcare over the past 15 years," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "The systems and quality-improvement measures VA actively uses are second to none, and the results speak for themselves."

The VA continues to lead with the innovative use of technology designed to improve patient adherence to a healthy habits with the most recent Adobe Blue Button product.

The article here: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/use-it-helps-va-outperform-private-sector



To gain greater insight into differences between VA and non-VA care and to also identify ways to improve VA care even further, the authors recommend continuing research with even more recent data. They also say there's a need for studies that compare VA specifically to high-performing private healthcare systems, rather than to a broad cross section of non-VA facilities.

Collaborating with Trivedi on the review were co-authors affiliated with RAND, the University of California-Los Angeles and the Greater Los Angeles VA Medical Center.