VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

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VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
THE BEST CARE ANYWHERE
Ten years ago, veterans hospitals were
dangerous, dirty, and scandal-ridden. Today,
they're producing the highest quality care in the
country. Their turnaround points the way toward
solving America's health-care crisis.

-Phillip Longman, Best Care Anywhere
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VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
THE BEST CARE ANYWHERE
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VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
THE BEST CARE ANYWHERE
Since the late 1990s, the Veterans Health
administration has consistently outperformed
commercial providers in quality, efficiency and
patient satisfaction.
Canadian Medical
Association Journal, Veterans Health System
Blazing Trails, September 9, 2008
VAs experience demonstrates the potential for
improving a systems performance by sustained
efforts to monitor indicators of quality, access,
and satisfaction.

Congressional Budget Office, December, 2007
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VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
THE BEST CARE ANYWHERE
..VHA has substantially better quality of care
than a national sample.
December 21, 2004, p. 944
The Veterans Health Administration system a
network of government hospitals and clinics has
emerged as the leader in quality improvement and
information technology, indicating the potential
for public sector experience and innovation.
- Himmelstein and
Woolhandler (2008) International Journal of
Health Services 38 (3) 407-419
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VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
THE BEST CARE ANYWHERE
The VA health care system in the past few years
has been rated exceptionally high in their
quality of care, says Peter Gaytan with the
American Legion. And that rating comes from the
patients themselves. March, 2006
The Veterans Health Administration quickly
emerged as a bright star in the constellation of
safety practices. - May 18, 2005, p. 2386
When we compared similar indicators of quality
in the VA and medicine fee-for-service systems
during similar time periods, we found that the VA
system performed better. May 29, 2003, p.
2222
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VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
THE BEST CARE ANYWHERE
VAs experience
shatters one of the
great myths of
medicine that improving care always requires
spending more money. The VA turns the paradigm
of its head, says Margaret OKane, President of
the National Committee for Quality Assurance,
It shows that better quality pays.

Fortune Magazine, May,
2006
the transformation of the V.H.A. is clearly the
most encouraging health policy story of the past
decade. -Paul Krugman, Health Care Confidential,
New York Times, January 27, 2006