By the early 1990s, VA hospitals were on the verge of extinction. The care vets received from the system was so poor, Congress considered abandoning the entire system in favor of giving vets vouchers for private healthcare. But in 1994, Bill Clinton appointed Kenneth Kizer as the VA's under secretary for health, kicking off a transformation that has left the VA one of the most efficient and technologically advanced health systems in the nation. Among the improvements: Every vet has an EMR; a barcode system lets workers scan prescriptions and patient wristbands to ensure they're getting the right medicine; and lab tests are automated and results are stored on the patient's EMR. In addition to the health IT advances, the VA operates an extensive preventative care network. One would think maintaining all this would cost the government dearly, but the opposite is true. "The VA's cost per patient has remained steady during the past 10 years. The cost of private care has jumped about 40 percent in that same period," Time reports.
The hospital system became so popular in the following years that the government had to limit which vets could use the facilities. Even then, many vets complain they wait months for a first appointment with a doctor. As a result, they want the VA to expand the system to accommodate more vets. Others have even greater hopes for the VA: allowing elderly non-vets on Medicare to use the more efficient, less expensive system. Congress doesn't have plans for that, despite the health system's success.
For details:
- read this piece from Time