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Research News
May 19, 2008
VA Patients More Likely to Receive Recommended Ambulatory Care
Two reports from the Institute of Medicine brought national attention to the quality of health care and raised questions of whether the non-VA sector would catch up with the quality of healthcare in the VA. It has been documented that VA medical centers provide better preventive and chronic disease care when compared with other healthcare organizations. This study examined the use of recommended ambulatory care services among insured adults receiving and not receiving care at VAMCs in 2000 and 2004, and whether the likelihood of receiving recommended services changed during this time. Investigators used survey data from the 2000 and 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)—a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling adults with insurance who received healthcare at VA (n=10,007) and non-VA facilities (n=393,873). Investigators examined the BRFSS self-reported use of 17 recommended healthcare services for cancer prevention (e.g., colorectal cancer screening, breast cancer screening), cardiovascular risk reduction (e.g., cholesterol measurement, smoking cessation counseling), diabetes management (e.g., measurement of hemoglobin, eye exams), and infectious disease prevention (e.g. flu vaccine).
Findings show that despite increasing emphasis on quality of care and improved performance throughout the U.S. healthcare system, adults receiving VA healthcare remain more likely to receive recommended ambulatory care. In 2000, receiving VA care was associated with greater use of 6 of the 17 recommended healthcare services. In 2004, receiving VA care was associated with greater use of 12 of 17 services, such as: 10% greater use of cholesterol screening; 10-31% greater use of services for cardiovascular risk reduction; 12-34% greater use of services for the management of diabetes; 27-30% greater use of services for infectious disease prevention; and 40% greater use of colorectal cancer screening.
Ross J, Keyhani S, and Keenan P. Use of recommended ambulatory care services: Is the Veterans Affairs quality gap narrowing? Archives of Internal Medicine May 12, 2008;168(9):950-958.
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