VHA vs. Medicare: And the winner is …
A new study finds that the cancer care provided by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) for men 65 years and older is at least as good as Medicare-funded fee-for-service care obtained through the private sector. The study, reported in the June 7 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, was led by Nancy Keating, an associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. Several factors could account for the high quality of VHA care. “Care in the VHA is much better coordinated than most other settings,” said Keating, who is also an associate physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “The VHA has a good, integrated medical record. Their doctors all work together and communicate more effectively. There are no incentives for the overuse of cancer treatments because VHA physicians are not rewarded financially for prescribing more drugs or procedures. The VHA also measures quality across a wide range of conditions,...