VA targets Big Spring medical center, with 1-star rating, for 'aggressive' improvement plan

The West Texas VA Health Care System in Big Spring is one of 15 low-performing medical facilities the Department of Veterans Affairs has targeted for overhaul, according to a VA news release.

The VA announced Thursday it is beginning a four-step "aggressive new approach" to improve the facilities that received the lowest score in its SAIL star rating system — a one-star rating out of five.

“President Trump has made it clear that our Veterans deserve only the best when it comes to their healthcare, and that’s why we are focusing on improving our lowest performing facilities nationwide,” VA Secretary David Shulkin said in the release.

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“We will employ tight timelines for facilities to demonstrate improvement, and if low performance persists, we will make swift changes — including replacing facility leaders — until we achieve the rapid improvements that Veterans and taxpayers expect from VA.”

There are almost 150 VA medical centers. Besides Big Spring, one-star facilities include: Hampton, Virginia; Harlingen, Texas; Roseburg, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; Denver, Colorado; Dublin, Georgia; El Paso, Texas; Jackson, Mississippi; Loma Linda, California; Memphis, Tennessee; Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; Phoenix, Arizona; and Walla Walla, Washington.

Big Spring's facility received one star in the VA's end-of-year 2017 ratings. It also received one star in September 2017, September 2016 and December 2015, briefly rising to a two-star rating in June 2016.

The Big Spring facility had not yet responded to a request for comment Thursday afternoon.

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The VA's proposed steps are:

Central, national accountable leadership: The VA has designated Dr. Peter Almenoff — Director of VA’s Office of Reporting, Analytics, Performance, Improvement and Deployment (RAPID) Healthcare Improvement Center — to oversee improvement at each center. Almenoff reports directly to Dr. Carolyn Clancy, Executive in Charge of the Veterans Health Administration.

Comprehensive analysis and identification of improvement targets: A new initiative, known as Strategic Action Transformation (STAT), will use a rigorous and formal approach based on clinical performance indicators to identify vulnerabilities in each low-performing facility and set specific targets for improvement.

Provision of national resources for improvement: The VA’s RAPID team of experts will use sophisticated statistical tools to track the progress of improvement against these targets and, where warranted, dispatch a team of expert improvement coaches to the medical centers to assist in meeting the goals.

Accountability for results: The VA’s Central Office will review each facility quarterly, and if the facilities fail to make rapid, substantial progress, VA leadership will take prompt action, including changing the leadership of the medical center.

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