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VA Health Systems Research

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FORUM - Translating research into quality health care for Veterans


In This Issue

Director's Letter

Director's Letter
by Seth A. Eisen, M.D., M.Sc.

Six suggestions for improving the likelihood of funding of research proposals submitted to HSR&D (and other organizations)...

Commentary

The Imperative to Transform
by Robert A. Petzel, M.D., Under Secretary for Health, Michael L. Davies, M.D., National Director of Systems Redesign, and Ro Hurley, M.S., Associate Director, Systems Improvement, Office of Systems Redesign

The journey of improvement is not easy. It requires the balancing of three big pieces: the best individual patient experience (including quality, access, and reliability), meeting (all) the needs of our Veteran population, while improving the value of care...

Response to Commentary

Increasing the Value of VA Health Care
by Paul G. Barnett, Ph.D., VA Health Economics Resource Center

The challenge to health care systems, including the Veterans Health Administration (VA), is to achieve higher value with the resources already available. Developing a value-based health care system will require many changes: comprehensive and transparent assessment of outcomes; improved health care delivery; activated health plan members; and an emphasis on prevention ...

Research Highlights

Transparency and Public Reporting of Quality and Safety in VA Health Care
by Joseph Francis, M.D., M.P.H., and Peter Almenoff, M.D., Office of Informatics and Analytics, Washington D.C.

VA is committed to transparency as part of our health care delivery. We do this out of respect for Veterans' service and our accountability to the American people. Transparency takes many forms'such as disclosure of errors and adverse events to patients and family members...


VA Databases: Window into Clinical Operations?
by Susan M. Frayne M.D., M.P.H., Center for Health Care Evaluation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System

Rich national databases have contributed to VA's remarkable transformation. These centralized data sources provide ample opportunities for clinical leaders, policymakers, and researchers to peer into the workings of the VA, to understand where it excels and where it can improve...


Value-Based Purchasing in VA
by James F. Burgess, Jr., Ph.D., Senior Investigator, Center for Organization, Leadership, and Management Research, VA Boston Healthcare System

This article explores the concept of value-based purchasing in the context of issues that arise in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) given its relatively unique role in the U.S. health care system as both a payer and provider of services...


Definition

Resource Use Measurement
by Paul G. Shekelle, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, and Peter Hussey, Ph.D., RAND Corporation, Washington D.C.

Health care "efficiency" or "resource use" measurement is in the early stages of development. Although public and private payers express considerable interest in calculating the value of health care services, it remains a challenge to develop and implement nationally accepted measures...

Evidence-based Synthesis Program (ESP)

FYI: Evidence Synthesis

The VA Evidence-based Synthesis Program (ESP) was established to provide timely and accurate syntheses of targeted health care topics of particular importance to clinicians, managers, and policymakers...

Cyber Seminars

HSR&D Cyber Seminars Program

The HSR&D Cyber Seminars Program hosts numerous cyber seminars that provide state-of-the -art training and special interest sessions right from your computer! Topics include clinical informatics, health economics, women's health, implementation science, evidence synthesis reports, and much more...

Women's Health

Special Journal Supplement on Women's Health

VA's Health Services Research and Development Service (HSR&D) with supplemental support from the VA Women Veterans Health Strategic Health Care Group, funded a special issue in the journal Women's Health Issues. The issue includes 18 peer-reviewed manuscripts summarizing health services research findings about women Veterans and women in the military, framed in the context of informing evidence-based practice and policy...


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