QUERI – Quality Enhancement Research Initiative

Veterans Choice Act: Implementation Evaluation & Partnered Evaluation Awards

The Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act was signed into law in 2014, authorizing the expanded availability of hospital care and medical services from non-VA entities for three years. The Office of Management and Budget then asked VA to support an additional implementation evaluation of the Choice Act. This program evaluation is a joint effort of VA's Office of Analytics and Business Intelligence and the Office of Research and Development, with QUERI playing a prominent role in specific evaluations of ongoing learning and implementation of the Choice Act. As a result, QUERI is currently funding the following evaluation projects:

• A Mixed-Methods, Multi-Site Evaluation of theImplementation of the Veterans Choice Act
  Principal Investigator: Michael Ho, MD, Denver, CO, Cleveland, OH, and Seattle, WA


• Ensuring Quality and Care Coordination in the Era of Veterans Choice
  Principal Investigator: Eve Kerr, MD, MPH, Ann Arbor, MI


• Evaluating the Impact of the Veterans Choice Act on Appropriateness of Opioid Therapy
  Principal Investigator: William Becker, MD, West Haven, CT


• Examining VACAA Implementation and Care Coordination for Women Veterans
  Principal Investigator: Kristin Mattocks, PhD, MPH, Northampton, MA


• Factors Affecting Choice Act Implementation and Quality for Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Choice IQ)
  Principal Investigator: Erin Finley, PhD, MPH, South TX


• Differences in Satisfaction with Choice: Laying the Foundation for the Evaluation of the Choice Act
  Principal Investigator: Susan Zickmund, PhD, Pittsburgh, PA


• OEF/OIF/OND Veterans' Use of Primary and Specialty Care through Choice
  Principal Investigator: Todd Wagner, PhD, Palo Alto, CA