Veteran's Affairs: Progress and Challenges in Transforming Health Care. Statement211 for the Record by Stephen P. Backhus, Director Veterans' Affairs and Militar 211 Health Care Issues, Health, Education, and Human Services Division

摘要

In October 1995, Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) began to transform its211u001esystem from a hospital operator to a healthcare provider that relies on community-211u001ebased, integrated networks of VA and non-VA providers to meet veterans' needs 211u001emore efficiently and effectively. Since VA's transformation began, we have 211u001evisited over 100 VA medical facilities and spoken with over 500 officials, as 211u001ewell as many veterans, including representatives of veteran service 211u001eorganizations. We also examined hundreds of documents, including VA's budget 211u001esubmissions and studies done by VA's Office of Inspector General and others. 211u001eBased on the insights developed during these efforts, our statement today focuses 211u001eon (1) VA's transformation progress to date, (2) challenges that remain to be 211u001econfronted, and (3) the implications for VA's fiscal year 2000 budget.