Lately, the VA has taken a pounding over its handling of mentally-ill soldiers, not to mention the conditions under which physically-injured veterans have been treated at its facilities. Now, the agency has made public an internal "hospital report card" citing data suggesting that its facilities may actually offer higher-quality care than the private sector in some cases. The report, which was requested by Congress, concluded that in both inpatient and outpatient care, the VA achieves higher scores than private hospitals for patient satisfaction, staffing levels, surgical volume and other significant quality measures. That being said, the VA is behind the private sector when it comes to screening women for breast and cervical cancer. Also, women and minorities were less satisfied with inpatient and outpatient care than white vets, and rural facilities scored lower than urban facilities.

To learn more about the report:
- read this Modern Healthcare article [1] (reg. req.) 

Related Articles:
Alabama VA drives IT healthcare adoption statewide [2]
VA understates care wait times [2]
Bush commission to examine veterans' healthcare [2]
Leadership changes at Walter Reed [2]