Star Ratings Show Quality Improvements Among VA Medical Centers

In an effort to be continually transparent and hold Veteran Affairs (VA) facilities accountable, the VA has released end of fiscal year 2018 hospital Star ratings. The Star ratings evaluate and benchmark quality of care delivery at VA medical centers across the United States.

The VA uses the Star rating designation to help identify best practices of its top performing hospitals and share them across VA’s health care system in order to achieve improvements across the entire system.

“With closer monitoring and increased medical center leadership and support we have seen solid improvements at most of our facilities,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement. “Even our highest performing facilities are getting better, and that is driving up our quality standards across the country.”

According to the VA, the release of the VA’s Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning report showed 66% of VA medical centers (VAMCs) have improved in overall quality during the third quarter. The largest gains were observed in areas where there were VA-wide improvement initiatives, including mortality, length of stay, and avoidable adverse events. Notably, the VA found that six VAMCs experienced a decrease in quality, and the VA has started improvement activities at each of the six facilities.

“There’s no doubt that there’s still plenty of work to do, but I’m proud of our employees, who work tirelessly to move VA in the right direction for veterans and taxpayers,” Mr Wilkie said.

—Julie Gould