VA hospitals outperform non-VA hospitals on outcomes

Editor's Note

In this study, data show that Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals have a similar or more favorable quality compared with non-VA hospitals.

Data for 129 VA and 4,010 non-VA hospitals were evaluated on 17 outcome measures (9 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety Indicators [PSIs], 4 mortality measures, 4 readmission measures), 10 patient experience measures, and 9 behavioral health measures.

VA hospitals had better outcomes for 6 of 9 PSIs, and there were no differences for the other 3. VA hospitals also had better outcomes for all mortality and readmission metrics.

Non-VA hospitals scored better overall for nursing and physician communication, responsiveness, quietness, pain management, and whether patients would recommend the hospital to others. Non-VA hospitals also did better on 4 of 9 behavioral health measures, and VA hospitals did better on 1 of 9 measures.

This data analysis compares available outcome, patient experience, and behavioral health measures between Veterans Affairs and non-Veterans Affairs hospitals.