The Best Medical Care In The U.S. [the broken link was removed]
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.
This data certainly should make most hospitals interested in learning what is going on.
And for the past six years the VA has outranked private-sector hospitals on patient satisfaction in an annual consumer survey conducted by the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan. This keeps happening despite the fact that the VA spends an average of $5,000 per patient, vs. the national average of $6,300.
Overall this is an interesting article. I am sure there are plenty of problems in the VA system – it is huge and complex. However, they may also have valuable ideas for the health care system that is very much in need of improvement. Also see: PBS documentary on improving hospitals.
When hospitals were evacuated from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, the VA’s patients were the only ones whose medical records could be accessed immediately anywhere in the country.
