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Research Highlights
VA outpaces private sector for medical care
December 31, 2004
Patients at hospitals and clinics operated by VA get significantly better care than private-sector
patients, according to a study by researchers with VA and RAND, an independent think tank. The
researchers examined the records of nearly 600 VA patients and about 1,000 non-VA patients with
similar health problems, checking whether they had received screening tests or treatments
recommended by clinical guidelines. Overall, VA patients received recommended care 67 percent of
the time, compared to 51 percent for non-VA patients. VA performed particularly well in preventive
and chronic care. The researchers attributed VA's edge to technological innovations, such as electronic
patient records, and to policies that hold clinical managers accountable for performance.
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