Quality & Patient Safety

Column: VA leads in patient safety

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, April 11, 2007

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The VA hospital system has become a leader in the patient safety movement through best practices and a commitment to new technology, according to a column in the New York Sun. The recent scandal at Walter Reed Medical Center has unjustly marred the VA's record, according to guest columnist Betsy McCaughey.

 

The public and the press have not differentiated between the VA, which is run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and Walter Reed, which is run by the Department of Defense. The VA system has improved its service from its apogee in the 1970s and 1980s, she wrote.

 

The VA utilized bar coding, electronic medical records, and computerized physician order entry to reduce errors. It also has reduced patient falls and medication errors, among other patient safety indicators, while improving patient satisfaction, according to McCaughey.



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