Trust increases among va boston’s veteran patients | va boston health care | veterans affairs

BOSTON , MA — The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that Veteran trust in VA Boston Healthcare System has risen to 94.4 percent — up from 90.6 percent in 2018, the first year VA

began conducting this survey. “These survey results are a testament to our commitment in providing the exceptional care Veterans have earned,” said Vincent Ng, director of VA Boston HCS.

“As a High Reliability Organization, we are also committed to continuous improvement, and we look forward to giving Veterans even more reasons to choose VA health care in the years ahead.”

Nationwide, trust in VA outpatient care increased to 91.8 percent, up from 85.6 percent in 2018. “We at VA work to earn the trust of Veterans every day, in every part of the country, every

time they come to us for their care,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “We’re proud that more than 91 percent of Veterans now trust VA health care, but we still have work to do. By

measuring Veteran trust, we can not only learn what we’re doing well at VA – we can also learn how to get better.”    The findings are based on a survey of Veteran patients who received VA

health care in the past 90 days. Within one week of using VA services, these Veterans were asked whether they trusted VA for their health care needs across a variety of categories, including

scheduling an appointment, health care visits, in-person pharmacy, mail-order pharmacy, labs/imaging, and Veteran safety.  The survey mirrors findings of recent independent studies.

According to Medicare’s latest nationwide survey of patients, VA hospitals outperformed non-VA hospitals on all 10 core patient satisfaction metrics, including overall hospital rating,

communication with doctors, communication about medication, willingness to recommend the hospital, and more. VA health care has also consistently outperformed non-VA care in peer-reviewed

studies, overall quality ratings and affordability for Veterans.  “Delivering world-class health care begins with trust,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal. “Whenever a

Veteran walks into a VA facility, we want them to know that we are going to take care of them. That’s the standard to which we hold ourselves, and we’ll never settle for anything less.” 

Today, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more Veterans than ever before in our nation’s history, setting an all-time record for health care provided in 2023. As Veteran trust

in VA has increased, more Veterans have also begun to choose VA care. VA has enrolled 401,006 Veterans in VA health care over the past 365 days – 30 percent more than the 307,831 it enrolled

the previous year. This is the highest number of enrollees in a single year in at least the past five years at VA, and nearly a 50 percent increase over pandemic-level enrollment in 2020. 

VA’s historic health care enrollment was made possible by the bipartisan PACT Act – signed into law by President Biden – which has allowed VA to expand VA health care and benefits to

millions of Veterans. VA is also conducting the most aggressive outreach campaign in its history, including hosting more than 2,600 events since the enactment of the PACT Act, launching a

$16+ million advertising campaign, using public service announcements, and – for the first time ever – sending text messages to Veterans encouraging them to enroll in VA health care. VA is

continuing these vigorous outreach efforts throughout 2024, with more than 550 in-person events already scheduled for this year.  VA recently expanded health care eligibility for millions of

Veterans nationwide, years earlier than called for by the PACT Act. As of March 5, 2024, all Veterans who were exposed to toxins and other hazards while serving in the military and meet

certain requirements became eligible to enroll directly in VA health care. This means that all Veterans who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Global War on

Terror, or any other combat zone after 9/11 can enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits. Additionally, Veterans who never deployed but were exposed to toxins

or hazards while training or on active duty in the United States are also eligible to enroll. VA also recently expanded health care to all World War II Veterans.  Moving forward, VA will

continue to aggressively reach out to Veterans to encourage them to come to VA. VA encourages all Veterans, family members, caregivers, and survivors to learn more about VA to understand how

VA fits into their lives, and apply for their world-class health care and earned benefits today. For more information about VA health care, visit www.va.gov/health-care. For more

information about Veteran trust in VA, visit www.va.gov/initiatives/veteran-trust-in-va.