The Health Care System for Veterans: An Interim Report
Abstract
In recent years, the number of patients served by the medical system of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has increased substantially. At the same time, VA's ratings for the quality of care and customer satisfaction have apparently improved. Many people both within and outside the department have pointed to several factors as being key to achieving those results: B Organizational restructuring designed to share decisionmaking authority between officials in the central office, regional managers, and key personnel at dispersed medical facilities; B Performance measurement targeted toward improving the quality of care; and B Extensive use of health information technology (health IT). This interim report provides a brief overview of VA's medical system, summarizes some of the recent evidence on the quality of VA's medical care and describes the incentives for quality that VA has included in its performance management system. The report also examines ways in which the department's health IT may affect the quality of care. CBO's final report, anticipated in early 2008, will address the potential for other government and private health care providers to make use of VA's experience, along with other issues.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA504988
Entities
Organizations
- Congressional Budget Office