This study found that emergency care for U.S. veterans is often fragmented because many veterans receive emergency department services that are paid for by non-VA insurance, making those encounters largely invisible to the Veterans Health Administration. As a result, gaps in information sharing and care coordination can limit follow-up care and continuity of treatment. The authors conclude that stronger data-sharing systems and better coordination between the VA and non-VA providers are needed to improve care quality and outcomes for veterans in an increasingly complex healthcare system.

This article discusses how healthcare for U.S. veterans is becoming increasingly fragmented as more care is delivered outside the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) through community providers. The author argues that while expanded access can improve convenience, it may also lead to poorer care coordination, duplicated services, higher costs, and challenges in maintaining continuity of care. The article calls for policies that better integrate VHA and community-based care to ensure veterans receive coordinated, high-quality healthcare.

This study quantifies a major shift in locus of VA critical care, a likely outcome of expanded non-VA health insurance coverage that was previously called out, but the study was not designed to address the many issues raised by outsourcing so much ICU care, including questions about the coordination and continuity of post-ICU care for these patients with high-acuity conditions. The study adds to concerns about VA’s ability to oversee the quality of community care and gaps in the integration of VA-delivered and VA-purchased care.

The New York State Department of Health launched the NYS Health Connector, a web-based application that allows quick access to a wide range of health information, such as the costs of various medical procedures and the frequency those procedures are performed at hospitals, empowering consumers to make more informed health care decisions.

Using 2013 - 2015 data from the Open Payments and Medicare drug utilization data, this report examines how payments from opioid manufacturers to physicians may have influenced opioid prescribing in New York State. This report also aims to provide insight regarding the possible effects of opioid-related payments.