An Analysis of Potential Adjustments to the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) System PDF Download

Author: Jeffrey Wasserman
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society
ISBN: 9780833033390
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
The Veterans Health Administration asked RAND to undertake a quantitative analysis of the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation System (VERA), which allocates the congressionally appropriated medical care budget to the Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs). The modeling approach used in this analysis provides a tool that VA policymakers can use for making resource allocation decisions.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 154

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Book Description
The Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) system was instituted by the VHA in 1997 in a continuing effort to improve the allocation of congressionally appropriated health care funds to the 21 Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs). VERA was designed to fulfill this mission in an equitable, understandable, and efficient manner as well as to address the complexities of providing health care to veterans with service-connected disabilities, low incomes, and special health care needs (e.g., spinal cord injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder) Although a number of studies have indicated that VERA is helping the VHA meet its goals and budget objectives, these studies have also suggested areas for improvement, such as revising patient classifications and developing methods to monitor and improve access to care for all veterans (Price Waterhouse LLP and the Lewin Group, Inc 1998; General Accounting Office, 1997, 1998; AMA Systems, Inc., The Center for Naval Analysis Corporation, March and July 2000). In contrast to earlier VHA allocation systems, which were based largely on historical costs, VERA bases its allocation of funds primarily on the number of veterans served. Thus, since VERA's inception, dramatic shifts in allocations have occurred from geographic areas with shrinking veteran populations to geographic areas with increasing numbers of veterans.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Health services administration
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Author: Jeffrey Wasserman
Publisher: RAND Corporation
ISBN: 9780833030641
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Since April 1997, the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) System has served as the basis for allocating the congressionally appropriated medical care budget of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to its regional networks. Concerned that the VERA system may not allocate resources in a manner consistent with its mission, Congress requested a study of the system and how allocations are affected by a number of factors, including infrastructure age, extreme weather conditions, and participation in medical education. This report describes the results of RAND's initial analysis. Because of the project's short time frame, only qualitative analysis was performed. Among the findings were that health care delivery costs may be affected by the age, physical condition, and historical significance of a VISN's capital infrastructure, factors for which VERA does not currently adjust. An additional finding was that VERA's current case-mix adjustment may not adequately account for differences in the average health status of veterans across networks. The influence on costs and access to care of factors such as weather extremes was less clear. In spite of its possible shortcomings, VERA appeared to be designed to meet its objectives more closely than did previous VA budget allocation systems. A plan was presented for further quantitative analysis of a number of critical issues that emerged from the current study.

Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Military Quality of Life and Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
Publisher:
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Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 1616

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Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 1404

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Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428938656
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 43

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Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Resource allocation
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation (VERA) system was instituted by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)-the organization in the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) that is responsible for providing health care to veterans-in 1997. The system was designed to improve the allocation of the congressionally appropriated medical care budget to the 22 regional service networks that comprise the VA health system. In recent legislation (H.R. 4635), the U.S. Congress asked the DVA to conduct a study on whether VERA adequately meets the special needs of some veterans. In response to this legislation, the VHA asked RAND's National Defense Research Institute to undertake this study. Specifically, this study examines the degree to which VERA accounts for differences in the age and geographic location of facilities, their patient case mixes, and other factors. The study also examines cost issues associated with affiliations between VA facilities and academic medical centers. The findings and recommendations from the study are documented in this report. Study findings should be of interest to VA personnel, Congress, and other policymakers-particularly those interested in health care for veterans. Health economists and policy planners may also have an interest in the findings. This research was sponsored by the DVA and was carried out jointly by RAND Health's Center for Military Health Policy Research and the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the National Defense Research Institute. The latter is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the unified commands, and the defense agencies.

Author:
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Category : Federal aid to medical centers
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Author: National Academy of Engineering
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309224772
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Improving our nation's healthcare system is a challenge which, because of its scale and complexity, requires a creative approach and input from many different fields of expertise. Lessons from engineering have the potential to improve both the efficiency and quality of healthcare delivery. The fundamental notion of a high-performing healthcare system-one that increasingly is more effective, more efficient, safer, and higher quality-is rooted in continuous improvement principles that medicine shares with engineering. As part of its Learning Health System series of workshops, the Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Value and Science-Driven Health Care and the National Academy of Engineering, hosted a workshop on lessons from systems and operations engineering that could be applied to health care. Building on previous work done in this area the workshop convened leading engineering practitioners, health professionals, and scholars to explore how the field might learn from and apply systems engineering principles in the design of a learning healthcare system. Engineering a Learning Healthcare System: A Look at the Future: Workshop Summary focuses on current major healthcare system challenges and what the field of engineering has to offer in the redesign of the system toward a learning healthcare system.