Best Care Anywhere

How VA Health Care Became a Benchmark for Quality and What Policymakers Should Learn from its Example

Recent headlines about Walter Reed Army Medical Center have brought the military health care system under scrutiny. Yet despite problems with access, The Department of Veteran Affairs’ system of care, (which doesn’t run Walter Reed) turns out, in study after study, to outperform the rest of the American health care system by virtually all measures. These include patient satisfaction, patient safety, prevention, disease management, use of evidence-based medicine, information technology, and cost effectiveness.

What lessons does the VA’s performance offer for addressing America’s health care crisis? Should access to VA health care be expanded to more veterans, many of whom are denied previously promised benefits, and perhaps to their families as well? How feasible would it be to replicate the VA model of care for the general population, including the uninsured?

This event, which was carried on C-SPAN, produced a lively debate, featuring Phil Longman, author of Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care is Better than Yours (PoliPointPress, 2007) and Dr. Kenneth Kizer, former Undersecretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, on this timely and provocative topic.

Video of this event is available at right, while an MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below. To learn more about Longman's new book, Best Care Anywhere, please click here.

05/04/2007 - 10:00am
05/04/2007 - 11:45am
New America Foundation
1630 Connecticut Ave, NW 7th Floor
Washington, DC, 20009
United States
See map: Google Maps

Participants

  • Kenneth W. Kizer, MD
    Undersecretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 1994 to 1999
    CEO and Chairman of the Board, Medsphere Systems Corporation
  • Len Nichols (moderator)
    Director, Health Policy Progam
    New America Foundation

Panelists

  • Dr. Gerald Cross
    Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health
    Veterans Health Administration

  • John Holahan, Ph.D.
    Director, Health Policy Center
    The Urban Institute
  • John F. Sommer, Jr.
    Executive Director
    American Legion
  • The Hon. Harry N. Walters
    Managing Commissioner, Commission on the Future For American Veterans
    Former Administrator, Veterans Administration
AttachmentSize
MP3 Audio Recording of this Event15.9 MB