Analysis
VA Survey of Veteran Enrollees’ Health and Use of Health Care (Survey of Enrollees)
One type of analysis is the “VA Survey of Veteran Enrollees’ Health and Use of Health Care” (Survey of Enrollees). This is a primary source for understanding the ever changing face of today’s Veteran. As service men and, increasingly, women, transition out of active military service into civilian life, that face becomes younger and the experience brought with it reflects different conflicts and varying regions. Changing economies and new laws, such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also influence Veterans, some of whom may be turning to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) for the first time.
The challenge for VHA is to make every Veteran feel welcome and cared for, whether they are newly enrolled in the VHA health care system or have been relying on VHA for many years.
As a basis for planning to meet this challenge, it is critical that we hear the voice of the Veterans who are enrolled in our system. The Survey of Enrollees provides information about who VHA’s enrolled Veterans are, what influences their health care choices, and how they perceive their health status. It also tells VHA how enrolled Veterans currently use our system and how they plan to use it in the future.
Specifically, the survey collects data on
- Marital status
- Period of service
- Combat status
- Ethnicity and race
- Employment status
- Public and private health insurance coverage
- Perceived health status
- Smoking status
- Perceptions of VA health care.
These data are categorized by priority, age, income levels, geographic area, and where available by special populations such as Veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn.
Click here for the most recent summary of survey results
Geographic Information Systems
Veterans Health Administration Policy and Planning leads VA in applying geospatial solutions to support policy analyses, strategic planning, and geographic database design and implementation. As the leader in geospatial analysis, this office leverages geographic information systems (GIS) to “visualize choice” and understand the spatial dimension of health care as it relates to optimizing healthcare access and resources; and visually present data driven analysis which often impact policies and quality of care for Veterans
