VA opposes issuing health-care quality reports - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

VA opposes issuing health-care quality reports

A bill that would require the Veterans Affairs Department to post medical quality assurance records online has drawn opposition from VA, which worries about the confidentiality of patients and whether posting the records would have a “chilling effect” on the willingness of health care workers to report mistakes.

The bill in question is HR 3843, the Transparency for America’s Heroes Act, sponsored by Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa. It calls for the quality assurance records to be posted on VA’s website after patients’ identifying information is removed.

Sestak, testifying Wednesday before the House Veterans Affairs Committee’s health panel, said the bill is his response to “revelations of substandard care” in the past two years that include well-publicized problems with the sterilization of medical equipment, and less publicized issues, like a veteran whose open wound was filled with maggots and a diabetic veteran who was not given needed insulin shots while hospitalized.

Major veterans groups, including Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America and Vietnam Veterans of America, support the bill.

“Recent reports of contaminated instruments, unsupervised medical procedures and adverse conditions at a Philadelphia long-term care facility erode faith in the VA health care system,” said Michael O’Rourke of the VFW. “We believe that having information easily available to patients and stakeholders renews the emphasis on quality, accountability and sound health care procedures provided by all staff in every VA facility.”

Carl Blake of Paralyzed Veterans of America said requiring VA to publish redacted medical quality assurance records on its website “will provide users of the VA a better understanding of the successes or failures of the VA in the quality of care they provide to our veterans.”

“This may encourage greater efforts on the part of VA employees, staff and leaders to ensure the best care is provided while ensuring openness,” Blake said.

VA sees things differently. Dr. Robert Jesse, principal deputy undersecretary for health, said redacting names and other identifying information does not guarantee confidentiality — and the whole idea may hurt rather than help.

“We understand that some of the interest in transparency is to promote accountability,” he said. “VA strongly believes that our employees must be held to the highest standard when delivering care. However, it is also imperative that employees know that they can report information fully and completely so that changes can be made and care can be improved.”

The release of quality assurance reports “may create a chilling effect, deterring our employees from providing accurate information and resulting in poorer quality care,” he said.

Given the disagreement, the bill’s fate is unclear. The health care subcommittee will not decide whether to move ahead with the measure until November, at the soonest.