The Best Medical Care In The U.S.:
Every day some 1,400 patients pass through the Buffalo VA's unprepossessing entrance, into what many might assume is a hellish health-care world,
understaffed, underfunded, and uncaring. They couldn't be more wrong. According to the nation's hospital-accreditation panel, the VA outpaces every other hospital in the Buffalo region. 'The care here is excellent,' says Roemer. 'I couldn't be happier, and my friends in the POW group I belong to all feel the same.'
LOWER COSTS, HIGHER QUALITY
Roemer seems to have stepped through the looking glass into an alternative universe, one where a nationwide health system that is run and financed by the federal government provides the best medical care in America. But it's true -- if you want to be sure of top-notch care, join the military. The 154 hospitals and 875 clinics run by the Veterans Affairs Dept. have been ranked best-in-class by a number of independent groups on a broad range of measures, from chronic care to heart disease
treatment to percentage of members who receive flu shots. It offers all the same services, and sometimes more, than private sector providers.
According to a Rand Corp. study, the VA system provides two-thirds of the care recommended by such standards bodies as the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality. Far from perfect, granted -- but the nation's private-sector hospitals provide only 50%. And while studies show that 3% to 8% of the nation's prescriptions are filled erroneously, the VA's prescription accuracy rate is greater than 99.997%,
a level most hospitals only dream about. That's largely because the VA has by far the most advanced computerized medical-records system in the U.S. And for the past six years the VA has outranked private-sector hospitals on patient satisfaction...
read on...
When I talk about the VA, I always make this qualification: I know that they are struggling to deal with the epidemic of PTSD and the influx of Veterans from the past seven years, and they need the help of us as taxpayers. Go show IAVA that you care. Sphere: Related Content
1 comment:
Very nice post, Chris. Who wouldn't support a mission that achieves lower costs and higher quality? I fear that our president and his supporters are aiming for a system that will have higher costs and lower quality. As the public is becoming more skeptical as well, the prospects for the president's version of health care reform is dimming. It will be interesting to see what iteration of his plan ultimately survives. www.MDWhistleblower.blogspot.com
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