The Dublin VA Medical Center has received a rating of four out of a possible five stars in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating results in the Mortality, Readmission, and Timely and Effective Care category.

The star rating is part of the CMS Hospital-Specific Report (HSR) of the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating. Ratings are issued quarterly to assist health care consumers in decision making about where they receive their health care and are derived from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey completed by health care consumers based on their experience of care at health care facilities across the nation. VA has participated in CMS Hospital Compare since March 2010 with the Mortality, Readmission, and Timely and Effective Care results reported for the first time in August 2011.

Medical Center Director and CEO Manuel Davila is proud of his team’s accomplishment and the hard work that resulted in the high rating but emphasized the increase in quality care that the rating represents is the real accomplishment.

“Our team has worked very hard to enhance quality in all areas to ensure that the health care our veterans receive is the best it can possibly be, so when I think of our four-star rating, I think of the excellent care that it represents. At our medical center, our mantra is ‘the veteran is the purpose’ which keeps our mission foremost in our minds. As long as we stay focused on that mantra, we know we will continue to meet our mission of providing high quality health care to our veterans,” Davila said. 

CMS developed the star system to help consumers understand hospital quality information through development of a summary measure, which combines publicly reported quality information in an easy-to-understand rating that is familiar to consumers. Aware that the large volume of Care Compare information on Medicare.gov, and the specialized focus of many of the measures publicly reported, could potentially overwhelm patients and consumers, CMS devised the Overall Star Rating to summarize the information in an easily understandable way.

The Overall Star Rating reflects measures across five aspects of quality: Mortality, Safety of Care, Readmission, Patient Experience, and Timely and Effective Care. The Overall Star Rating supplements, rather than replaces, the information on Care Compare on Medicare.gov.

 Davila was optimistic about future ratings.

“We continually review our processes and evaluate the experience of care of our veterans and other stakeholders through a variety of assessment approaches. These efforts give us the information we need to make sure that we are headed in the right direction. We are confident that we will continue to improve and that will certainly be our daily focus,” Davila said. 

The Dublin VA Medical Center is one of 152 VA medical centers in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) system and provides comprehensive health care services to approximately 49,000 veterans in Middle and South Georgia. Additional information about the Dublin VA is available on its web site atwww.va.gov/dublin-health-care/ and on its Facebook page at “Dublin VA Medical Center.”