VA Hudson Valley Receives 5-Star Quality Rating

From VA Hudson Valley:

MONTROSE, N.Y. (June 6, 2016) – The Department of Veterans Affairs Hudson Valley Health Care System earned a five-star rating for quality of care, rating it No. 11 out of 128 VA medical centers across the country, according to a recent internal report.

The rating comes as the product of the latest quarterly Strategic Analytics for Improvement and Learning Value Model (SAIL) report created by the VA’s Office of Informatics and Analytics. SAIL is an internal VA measurement that compares the quality of care provided at all VA medical centers across the country. Only 10 percent of VA medical centers receive a five-star rating, which is updated quarterly.

“This five-star rating verifies what we’ve known all along; that VA Hudson Valley has excellent access and our quality of care is top-notch,” said Meg Caplan, VA Hudson Valley Medical Center Director. “While we still have more work to do for our Veterans in the Hudson Valley, we’re delighted to see this kind of acknowledgment from our Central Office. I’m proud of what employees, volunteers and everyone who contributes to our mission have done to make this possible.”

VA Hudson Valley is the only hospital in its regional network to hold the five-star accolade this quarter. The last time VA Hudson Valley held the five-star distinction was October through December 2014. In the previous quarter, VA Hudson Valley held a four-star rating.

VA adapted a private sector measurement model, Truven Health Analytics, to evaluate its medical centers and included specific VA metrics, as part of the analysis. The VA uses 10 broad areas and 28 more finite categories to evaluate VA medical centers. Eleven concern inpatient care quality, 11 about outpatient care quality, and six cover overall care. Veterans’ Access to Care, one of the categories, rated 11th out of 128 facilities. In the Mental Health category, VA Hudson Valley placed third out of 128.