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VETERANS POST
By Freddy Groves
Two recent surveys ranked health care at the Department of Veterans Affairs as better than civilian care in two specific areas. The star rating of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CMS) gave four or five stars to 58% of VA facilities for hospital quality. Civilian facilities only saw 40% in that star range. In a patient satisfaction survey, that same CMS star system saw 79% of VA facilities receiving four or five stars, while only 40% of civilian facilities reached that rating.
A recent medical journal article looked at 26 studies that ranked VA hospitals in areas such as patient experience, safety, quality and access, and determined that non-surgical care was rated better in 15 of the studies. With surgical care, the report showed that 11 out of 13 studies ranked VA care as comparable or better.
A stroll around the internet, checking in on sites where veterans praise/condemn the VA for their care, reveals a wide range of responses. Yes, you have to be careful about believing what you read on the internet, but many of these comments and notes are so heartfelt it’s difficult to imagine they aren’t true. Some say the VA saved their life. Some say the best thing that ever happened was getting approved for Community Care and finding a civilian doctor. Some who have moved to different areas of the country claim there are huge differences from one facility to another.
If you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of veterans who are sent a “trust” survey in an email after you have an appointment, fill it out and send it back. They need your input to keep the numbers accurate in their quarterly reports. The survey will come from the Veterans Signals (VSignals) program in the Veterans Experience Office. They’ll use your data to make adjustments so your VA experiences are smooth and easy.
© 2024 King Features Synd., Inc.
