What measurement are you using for the VA?

Posted on: January 29, 2019 at 11:11:25 CT

Wait times? A Rand Study said “wait times at the VA for new patient primary and specialty care are shorter than wait times reported in focused studies of the private sector.” Most major VA medical centers offer same-day urgent primary-care and mental-health-care appointments. Current enrollees seeking nonurgent primary care can typically get an appointment in three to seven days.

Quality of care? “We found that the overall quality of care in the VA health system compares favorably to other segments of the U.S. health care system,” said Dr. Courtney Gidengil, co-author of the study and a physician scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “In some areas, the quality of care provided by the VA exceeded what we found in other settings, although there were areas where the quality of VA care fell short.”

Part of the reason you hear so many negative stories about VA health care is that it receives far more scrutiny than the rest of the health-care system, including from two standing committees in Congress, an inspector general, veterans service organizations and a highly engaged press.

https://www.rand.org/news/press/2016/07/18.html