Background Some have the opinion that patients cared for in Veterans Health Administration
(VHA) hospitals receive care of poorer quality than those cared for in non-VHA institutions …

Background “America's Best Hospitals,” an influential list published annually by US News &
World Report, assesses the quality of hospitals. It is not known whether patients admitted to …

Objective. To compare patients treated for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in a Veterans
Health Administration (VHA) facility to similar patients treated under Medicare. Data …

Objectives. Some of the nation's 26 million veterans have two government-financed health
care entitlements: Medicare and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The aims of this …

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of linking claims-based pattern analysis with medical
record review in the assessment of quality of hospital care among Medicare beneficiaries …

Background Studies to determine whether care by cardiologists improves the survival of
patients with acute myocardial infarction (MI) have produced conflicting results, and it is not …

Importance Little contemporary information is available about comparative performance
between Veterans Affairs (VA) and non-VA hospitals, particularly related to mortality and …

OBJECTIVE: To examine Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Medicare hospitalizations
for elderly veterans with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), their use of cardiac procedures in …

OBJECTIVES: To examine regional variation in health care utilization and outcomes during
acute and chronic care of veterans following acute myocardial infarction (AMI), identifying …

Context.—Medicare has a legislative mandate for quality assurance, but the effectiveness of
its population-based quality improvement programs has been difficult to establish. Objective …