Comparison Of Quality Of Care In Va And Non Va Settings A Systematic Review

Comparison of Quality of Care in VA and Non-VA Settings: A Systematic Review

Comparison of Quality of Care in VA and Non-VA Settings: a Systematic Review

It remains unclear where the Veterans Health Administration (VA) finds itself in the spectrum of care currently available in the United States. The quality of care provided by the VA has been subject to debate since, and well before, the VA's system transformation starting in the mid-90s. Media and entertainment vehicles have, rightly or wrongly, not infrequently portrayed VA care in less than optimal light, although there have been notable exceptions1. Regardless of media views, the VA has established itself as an innovative healthcare system, including implementation of its advanced electronic medical record, with broad clinical and educational missions. The immediate objective of this project is to conduct a systematic literature review of the published literature comparing the quality of medical and surgical care provided by the VA to relevant non-VA healthcare facilities and systems. The Key Question was: Compare and contrast studies that assess VA and non-VA quality of care for surgical, nonsurgical and other medical conditions.

Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services

Approximately 4 million U.S. service members took part in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shortly after troops started returning from their deployments, some active-duty service members and veterans began experiencing mental health problems. Given the stressors associated with war, it is not surprising that some service members developed such mental health conditions as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use disorder. Subsequent epidemiologic studies conducted on military and veteran populations that served in the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq provided scientific evidence that those who fought were in fact being diagnosed with mental illnesses and experiencing mental healthâ€"related outcomesâ€"in particular, suicideâ€"at a higher rate than the general population. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the quality, capacity, and access to mental health care services for veterans who served in the Armed Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn. It includes an analysis of not only the quality and capacity of mental health care services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, but also barriers faced by patients in utilizing those services.