Columbia VA Health Care System Receives 5-Star CMS Quality Ratings
PRESS RELEASE
July 28, 2023
Columbia , SC — COLUMBIA, S.C. – Today Columbia VA Health Care System announced that it received a ‘5 of 5 Stars’ rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This is the first time CMS has included VA facilities in their annual Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings.
The CMS uses 5 categories – mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, and timely and effective care – to award a quality rating for each hospital. The more stars (out of 5), the better a hospital performed on the available quality measures.
Overall, 67% of VA hospitals included in the CMS annual Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings received either 4 or 5 stars, compared to only 41% of non-VA hospitals. These findings are the latest in a series of recent evaluations showing the effectiveness of VA health care compared to non-VA health care. VA hospitals outperformed non-VA hospitals on all 10 core patient satisfaction metrics in the recent Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Star Ratings, and a recent systematic review of more than 40 peer-reviewed studies found that VA health care is consistently as good as — or better than — non-VA health care.
“Nationwide, only a small percentage of hospitals have achieved a prestigious five-star designation from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for their exceptional patient care,” said John Merkle, the acting director of CVAHCS. “Earning such recognition demands unwavering focus and attention to all aspects of patient satisfaction. I am honored to collaborate with our dedicated employees and volunteers who consistently deliver this high level of quality care to our esteemed veterans.”
“Our job at VA is to deliver the best possible care to every Veteran who walks through our doors,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal. “While we’re very proud of these findings, there is still work to do. We will study these results, learn from them, and continue to improve until we’re delivering world-class care to every Veteran, every time.”
For more information, please contact the Public Affairs Office at vhacmsPublicAffairs@va.gov or 803-776-4000, ext 56519, or visit https://www.va.gov/columbia-south-carolina-health-care/contact-us/