A study by California-based nonprofit research organization RAND has found that the Department of Veterans Affairs‘ healthcare system generally delivered care that was “better or equal” in quality compared to non-VA systems.
RAND said Monday the study analyzed 10 years’ worth of research and medical literature on the VA health system and noted that there were also some exceptions in the quality dimensions used.
“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,” said Courtney Gidengil, co-author of the study and a physician scientist at RAND.
The exceptions were in the areas of timeliness, equity, efficiency and patient-centeredness and were due to lack of information.
VA performed well in the dimensions related to safety and effectiveness, with 22 of 34 analyzed studies supporting the former and 20 of 24 supporting the latter finding.
RAND added the study updates and expands a similar research conducted in 2009 that examined the VA system in response to a request from Congress.
The others co-authors in the study, which was published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, are Claire O’Hanlon, Christina Huang, Elizabeth Sloss, Rebecca Anhang Price, Peter Hussey and Carrie Farmer.
