Collaboration between Dartmouth-Hitchcock and White River Junction VA Medical Center Outcomes Group shows high ratings for VA surgical care
Vermont Business Magazine A study by researchers from White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth shows VA hospitals across the country outperform or are equal to neighboring non-VA hospitals in surgical quality and overall patient safety satisfaction. The study’s findings were published June 26, in the Journal of Surgical Research.
Researchers at the White River Junction VA Medical Center in Vermont and the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire identified VA medical centers with at least one non-VA hospital within 25 miles in three regions across the United States: West-Southwest, New England and Deep South.
“Under the MISSION Act, Veterans now have more health care choices than ever,” said Brett Rusch, MD, Executive Director of the White River Junction VA Healthcare System. “But because of how well the VA compares to non-VA hospitals, we know Veterans will continue to choose VA for their health care needs.”
David Soybel, MD, Chief of Surgery at the White River Junction VA Healthcare System, explained “The White River Junction VA has a long history of tracking health care performance and outcomes. I’m proud of the work our team did on this study, which will help Veterans across the country make better informed health care decisions.”
With a sample of 34 VA facilities and 319 neighboring non-VA hospitals, the researchers used benchmarks created by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. They also used scores from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. The results showed VA facilities performed better or as good as non-VA hospitals in overall patient safety indicators (PSIs), which measure potential hospital complications and adverse events following surgeries and other procedures. VA hospitals performed much better in surgery specific PSIs.
The researchers also found VA and non-VA hospitals were about equal in patient satisfaction with overall hospital experience.
The data was collected from Hospital Compare, a publicly available database that helps consumers decide where to seek health care. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services runs the database.
Source: 7.21.2020. Veteran Affairs Medical Center. White River Junction, VT Visit VA's Office of Research and Development.