WASHINGTON, D.C. – The prestigious New England Journal of Medicine called VAs health care system "a laudable success" in an editorial released today.
"There have been many forces operating to promote the success of VA's efforts at quality improvement, including strong, effective leadership and an experienced, dedicated work force," said the editorial, which appears in the journals Dec. 28 edition. "In most cases in which comparable statistics from the private sector exist, the performance of VA appears to be superior."
The editorial noted that VA is providing care at more sites to more veterans with fewer employees than five years ago, while becoming an industry leader in such areas as patient safety, the computerization of medical records, preventative screenings and immunizations.
"This is a tribute to the men and women who look after our veterans at more than 1,200 sites of care throughout VA," said Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs Hershel Gober. "Our veterans deserve the best medical care available. Its gratifying to see one of the top medical journals acknowledge the quality of VA care."
"VA has an outstanding system that continues to improve to meet the unique health care needs of veterans," added Under Secretary for Health, Dr. Thomas L. Garthwaite. "It is a model system for the health care industry and worthy of preservation."
VA operates 173 medical centers, 134 nursing homes and more than 600 community clinics that treated nearly 600,000 inpatients last year and provided for 36.4 million outpatient visits. Nearly 4 million veterans are enrolled in VAs health care system.
