VA San Diego Receives Five Stars in Nationwide Healthcare Quality Review

CMS began including VA health care systems in their quality reviews in 2023 – meaning VA San Diego has earned a five-star rating during both years of inclusion in the CMS review.

“We are proud to maintain our five-star CMS rating at VA San Diego, it affirms our continued commitment to impactful, innovative, and life-saving care for our nation’s heroes,” said Dr. Frank Pearson, Director, and CEO of the VA San Diego Healthcare System. “Of the 45 medical facilities in San Diego County, VA San Diego is one of only six county hospitals to receive this five-star CMS honor – showing we are distinguished in fulfilling our mission of providing quality care to every Veteran, every day.”

“It’s our commitment that every eligible Veteran not only can choose VA health care but, when they do, they get the very best and safest care possible,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Shereef Elnahal, M.D. “For the second year in a row, VA care has been shown to be one of the best in the Nation. We are dedicated to continuously improving and always strive to provide the highest quality of care to Veterans.”

Nationally, VA hospitals continue to outperform non-VA hospitals on both CMS’ Overall Star Rating and their quarterly patient satisfaction survey:

• Patient Satisfaction Survey: VA outperformed non-VA hospitals in the most recent CMS star ratings, with 79% of VA facilities receiving a summary star rating of 4 or 5 stars compared to 40% of non-VA hospitals. This represents the ninth consecutive quarter in which VA facilities have outperformed non-VA counterparts.
• Hospital Quality Ratings: In this year’s CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings, more than 58% of VA hospitals received 4- or 5-star ratings compared to 40% of non-VA hospitals. This is only the second year VA hospitals have been included in this review, and VA has outperformed non-VA health care in both years.

These findings come at a time when Veteran trust in VA outpatient care has reached an all-time record high of 92%, based on a survey of more than 440,000 Veterans. Additionally, these findings are consistent with a recent systematic review that found that VA health care is consistently as good as — or better than — non-VA health care.

Both CMS ratings aim to improve patients’ ability to make informed decisions about where they receive care. CMS awards Overall Star Ratings to hospitals based on five categories: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, and timely and effective care. CMS’ HCAHPS summary star ratings combine information across ten measures of patient experience, including staff communication and responsiveness, hospital environment, willingness to recommend the hospital, and overall hospital rating. This year’s Overall Star Ratings are based on data collected between July 2019 and March 2023, and this quarter’s HCAHPS star ratings are based on data collected between October 2022 and September 2023.

VA is committed to delivering the timely, world-class healthcare Veterans deserve and will stop at nothing less. The overall rating — as well as ratings on specific quality and satisfaction measures — of your local VA hospital, can be found via CMS’ Care Compare tool.

Scott Gomer, Chief Communications Officer

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