The veterans healthcare system: preparing for the twenty-first century

Since its establishment in 1946, the veterans healthcare system has greatly expanded in both size and responsibility. It is now the largest integrated healthcare system in the United States, the nation's largest provider of graduate medical and other health professionals training, and one of the largest research enterprises in America. It is also the nation's largest provider of services to homeless persons, an essential provider in the public healthcare safety net, and an increasingly important element in the federal response to disasters and national emergencies. Patterned after what was considered the best in American healthcare, for most of the past 50 years the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare has focused primarily on acute inpatient care, high technology, and medical specialization. Now, in response to societal and industrywide forces, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is reengineering the veterans healthcare system, changing the operational and management structure from individual hospitals to 22 integrated service networks and transitioning the system to one that is grounded in ambulatory and primary care. This article briefly describes the history and functions of the veterans healthcare system, its service population, and key aspects of its restructuring.     

Persistence of Legionella pneumophila in a hospital's water system: a 13-year survey.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the molecular epidemiology of Legionella pneumophila infections in the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC). DESIGN: Molecular epidemiological study using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). SETTING: A large university teaching hospital. ISOLATES: All surviving isolates obtained from culture-proven nosocomial L. pneumophila infections and all surviving isolates obtained from the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics' water supply between 1981 and 1993. RESULTS: Thirty-three isolates from culture-proven nosocomial cases of L. pneumophila pneumonia were available for typing. PFGE of genomic DNA from the clinical isolates identified six different strains. However, only strain C (16 cases) and strain D (13 cases) caused more than 1 case. Strain C caused clusters of nosocomial infection in 1981, 1986, and 1993 and also caused 4 sporadic cases. Strain D caused a cluster in 1987 and 1988 plus 4 sporadic cases. Of the six strains causing clinical infections, only strains C and D were identified in water samples. PFGE identified three strains in the water supply, of which strains C and D caused clinical disease and also persisted in the water supply during most of the study period. CONCLUSION: Specific strains of L. pneumophila can colonize hospital water supplies and cause nosocomial infections over long periods of time.     

Dissemination of methods and results from the veterans health study: final comments and implications for future monitoring strategies within and outside the veterans healthcare system

The Veterans Health Study (VHS) followed a cohort of patients receiving ambulatory care in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system for up to 5 years. One of the principal aims of this study was to develop a library of methodologies including general and disease-specific health outcome questionnaires for use in monitoring the quality of healthcare and for research purposes. The cornerstone for this work is the Veterans RAND 36 and 12 Item Health Surveys (VR-36 and VR-12), a general measure developed in the VHS for measuring the physical and psychologic well-being of the patient. A comprehensive set of disease-specific assessments has also been developed as part of this study for the purposes of monitoring specific chronic conditions more commonly seen in routine ambulatory care settings. Since 1996, more than 2 million questionnaires have been administered in the VA for quality monitoring purposes, using the VR-36 and VR-12. Research studies that have used these batteries span randomized clinical trials in the VA cooperative studies program and clinical effectiveness research. Health assessments using VHS batteries are being disseminated for widespread use outside the VA. Chief among the assessments used is the VR-12, which has recently been included in the 2006 Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) as part of the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey for monitoring the Medicare Advantage Program. The methods and batteries developed in the VHS are in the public domain and provide a framework for future patient monitoring using standard measures of health.     

Bedside rationing by general practitioners: A postal survey in the Danish public healthcare system

Background  

It is ethically controversial whether medical doctors are morally permitted to ration the care of their patients at the bedside. To explore whether general practitioners in fact do ration in this manner we conducted a study within primary care in the Danish public healthcare system. The purpose of the study was to measure the extent to which general practitioners (GPs) would be willing to factor in cost-quality trade-offs when prescribing medicine, and to discover whether, and if so to what extent, they believe that patients should be informed about this.     

Illnesses among United States veterans of the Gulf War: a population-based survey of 30,000 veterans

Despite numerous studies on veterans of the 1990 to 1991 Gulf War, the fundamental questions of how healthy they are and how their health compares with that of their military peers who were not deployed to the Gulf have not been fully answered. We conducted a health survey in which the health outcomes of a population-based sample of 15,000 Gulf veterans representing various military branches and unit components (regular, reserve, National Guard) were compared with those of 15,000 non-Gulf veterans who were randomly sampled to mirror the number in the same military strata in the Gulf veteran group. In comparison with their peers, Gulf veterans had a higher prevalence of functional impairment, health care utilization, symptoms, and medical conditions and a higher rate of low general health perceptions. A longitudinal follow-up of the health of these veterans will be needed to detect changes in health status and to detect diseases with a long latency period.     

Strategic alliances in healthcare: opportunities for the Veterans Affairs healthcare system

Strategic alliances are proving to be effective strategies for responding and adapting to changing environments, and as such they offer the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system valuable opportunities for accomplishing the goals of its major reorganization effort. This article begins with an examination of basic strategic-alliance structures that are employed across many different types of industries. Next, consideration is given to the ways in which these basic alliance structures may be adapted to the unique organizations and individuals that serve as providers, purchasers, and consumers of health services. Finally, this article explores how models of strategic alliance in healthcare can be tailored to the specific needs and constraints of the VA healthcare system through an examination of existing and potential alliance opportunities.     

Big Data in Israeli healthcare: hopes and challenges report of an international workshop

In September 2015, the Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research (NIHP) organized a workshop to address the hopes and challenges of Big Data in healthcare in the Israeli context. The paper provides an overview of the challenges and hopes raised by data driven science and Big Data, along with a summary of Israel’s strengths and weaknesses regarding Big Data, as discussed by the speakers in the course of the conference. It concludes with some hints on how Israel’s advantages in this field might be leveraged.     

Unmet healthcare needs in Ireland: Analysis using the EU-SILC survey

The analysis used the 2013 Survey of Income and Living Conditions to examine the extent and causes of unmet need for healthcare services in Ireland. The analysis found that almost four per cent of participants reported an unmet need for medical care. Overall, lower income groups, those with poorer health status and those without free primary care and/or private insurance were more likely to report an unmet healthcare need. The impact of income on the likelihood of reporting an unmet need was particularly strong for those without free primary care and/or private insurance, suggesting a role for the health system in eradicating income based inequalities in unmet need. Factors associated with the healthcare system – cost and waiting lists – accounted for the majority of unmet needs. Those with largely free public healthcare entitlement were more likely than all other eligibility categories to report that their unmet need was due to waiting lists (rather than cost). While not possible to explicitly examine in this analysis, it is probable that unmet need due to cost is picking up on the relatively high out-of-pocket payments for primary care for those who must pay for GP visits; while unmet need due to waiting is identifying the relatively long waiting times within the acute hospital sector for those within the public system.     

Pregnancy outcomes among U.S. Gulf War veterans: a population-based survey of 30,000 veterans

PURPOSE: We evaluated an association between veterans' Gulf War service and reported adverse pregnancy outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a health survey in which selected reproductive outcomes of a population-based sample of 15,000 Gulf War veterans representing four military branches and three unit components (active, reserve, and National Guard) were compared to those of 15,000 non-Gulf veteran controls. RESULTS: Male Gulf veterans, compared with their non-Gulf veteran controls, reported a significantly higher rate of miscarriage (odds ratio [OR] = 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.32-1.99). Female Gulf veterans also reported more miscarriages than their respective controls, although their excess was not statistically significant (OR= 1.35; CI = 0.97-1.89). Both men and women deployed to the Gulf theater reported significant excesses of birth defects among their liveborn infants. These excess rates also extended to the subset of "moderate to severe" birth defects [males: OR= 1.78 (CI = 1.19-2.66); females: OR = 2.80 (CI = 1.26-6.25)]. No statistically significant differences by deployment status were found among men or women for stillbirths, pre-term deliveries or infant mortality. CONCLUSION: The risk of veterans reporting birth defects among their children was significantly associated with veteran's military service in the Gulf War. This observation needs to be confirmed by a review of medical records to rule out possible reporting bias.     

Airborne contamination in an operating suite: report of a five-year survey

Airborne contamination in an operating suite was studied with a slit sampler, settle plates and a light-scattering particle counter. In conventional operating rooms there was a significant difference between the empty rooms and rooms in use; the mean total bacterial count by a slit sampler changed from 1.1 in empty to 42.5 c.f.u./m3 in use (39 times increase), the settle plates count changed from 1.5 to 17.4 c.f.u./m2/min (12 times increase), and the mean total particle count changed from 56.9 to 546.7/l (10 times increase) respectively. The increase was caused mainly by persons present in the room. Another difference was found between zones in the operating suite; the bacterial count in the clean area doubled in the semi-clean area and further doubled in the dirty area in slit sampler count as well as settle plates count, and particle count in the clean area increased by 14 times in the semi-clean and dirty areas. This difference resulted from the different quality of the ventilating system. Air cleanliness of operating rooms in use by persons present in the room dropped to a level between the clean and the semi-clean area in spite of the high quality of the ventilating system. Bacterial species identified were mostly coagulase negative staphylococci and micrococci. Our study indicates that reduction of airborne contamination in an operating suite is accomplished by the combination of an efficient ventilating system and the restriction of the number of persons present in the room.     

应用医院感染实时监控系统降低医院感染漏报率

目的评价医院感染信息化对降低医院感染漏报率的效果。方法 2012年前某院医院感染监测一直采用传统监测方法,2012年开始应用医院感染实时监控系统,调查2011—2013年每年7—12月医院感染病例,比较医院感染实时监控系统应用前后漏报率。结果 2011—2013年每年7—12月医院感染漏报率分别为12.12%、8.16%、4.55%,3年同期医院感染漏报率比较,差异有统计学意义(χ2=8.02,P0.05)。结论医院感染信息化管理方式可有效降低医院感染漏报率。