The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated healthcare system in the nation and is solely responsible for providing healthcare for the men and women who admirably served this country (Oliver 2008). From approximately 1970 to 1995 the VA healthcare system was widely considered to provide the worst care in the nation (Oliver 2008). In 1995 a series of reforms began with the mission to provide the veteran with the best care possible. The improvement in the delivery of the healthcare services began with the implementation of performance criteria designed to maximize staff performance (Oliver 2008). After 20 years of development the VHA began to implement an integrated national healthcare database was is widely considered to be the gold standard (Oliver 2008). The upkeep of this national database cost approximately $90 per patient and is accessible to any VHA health care provider throughout the nation (Oliver 2008).
Technology
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines the quality of care the degree that health services provide the desired outcomes that are consistent with professional knowledge (Fritz 2008). The quality of healthcare provided has been questioned on a national basis due to the inconsistent and suboptimal care the US population often receives (Fritz 2008). Quality care is determined by the amount of care that is provided justified by research findings (Fritz 2008). Patient care considered to receive high quality care due to the electronic access that can be easily accessed by all healthcare professionals (Fritz 2008). The availability of patient information electronically is available 100% of the time regardless of which VA medical center the veteran presents at (Oliver 2008). Nationally 20% of all testing is repeated because of the loss of information which is non existent within the VA system (Oliver 2008). The transformation the VA healthcare system has endured is present because of the strong leaders placed (Oliver 2008).
Workforce
Most VA employees consider it an honor to provide care for the veteran which is considered to deserve all the services and honor one receives (Rick 2001). Creative strategies are employed by the human resource departments to entice well qualified healthcare professionals to spend one’s career within the VHA system (Rick 2001). Technological advances created by VHA employees are a bar code medication administration system also known as BCMA (Rick 2001). This system was developed to reduce medication errors and thus improving the quality of patient care (Rick 2001). A sophisticated electronic medical record system was developed and patient handling procedures were updated to protect staff from injury (Rick 2001). Staff benefits provided by the VA are: national mobility, tuition support and scholarship, varied roles and numerous opportunities, support by leadership, supportive learning environment, and blame free efforts (Rick 2001).
Conclusion
As with any revolutionary changes within a large organization changes were initiated by strong leaders with a vision and purpose. This process was stated by Kenneth Kizer the undersecretary of health and was outlines in the policy document titled vision for change (Oliver 2008). The improvements were implemented in a fashion over a long period of time with many revisions but now the VHA has a reputation for providing healthcare that other organizations envy (Oliver 2008).
References
Fritz, J. M. (2008). Physical Therapy Clinic Performance in the Treatment of Patients
with LBPS. Physical Therapy. 88 (9) 1007-1009. Retrieved on December 11, 2008 from the Proquest database.
Oliver, A. (2008). Public sector Healthcare reforms that work? A Case Study of the US
Veterans Health Administration. The Lancet 371 (9619) 1211-1214. Retreived on December 11, 2008 from the ProQuest database.
Rick, C. (2001). Warp-Speed Innovation. Nursing Management. 32 (7) 14. Retrieved on
December 11, 2008 from the ProQuest database.