VA Health Care: Experiences in Denver and Charleston Offer Lessons for Future Partnerships with Medical Affiliates
Highlights
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) maintains affiliations with medical schools, including the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Services Center and University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), to obtain enhanced medical care for veterans. As part of their plans for new medical campuses, both UCH and MUSC proposed jointly constructing and operating new medical facilities with VA in Denver and Charleston, respectively. This report discusses (1) how VA evaluated the joint venture proposals for Denver and Charleston and the status of these proposals, (2) the challenges these proposals pose for VA, and (3) the lessons VA can learn from its experiences in Charleston and Denver for future partnerships.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | To ensure that there is a clear basis for evaluating future joint venture proposals as well as to help ensure early and frequent communication between VA and its medical affiliates and stakeholders during negotiations, the Secretary of VA should identify criteria at the departmental level for evaluating joint venture proposals. In order to foster an atmosphere of collaboration, VA should share these criteria with potential joint venture partners. |
In November 2007, VA issued a handbook that established the approval process and consistent criteria for evaluating joint venture proposals. These criteria will provide VA a clear basis for making decisions on joint venture proposals and ensure that they evaluated in a consistent fashion across the country.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | To ensure that there is a clear basis for evaluating future joint venture proposals as well as to help ensure early and frequent communication between VA and its medical affiliates and stakeholders during negotiations, the Secretary of VA should develop a communications strategy for use in negotiating joint venture proposals. |
In November 2007, VA issued a handbook that established the approval process and consistent criteria for evaluating joint venture proposals and contained a communication strategy. The communication strategy will help VA avoid the problems that hampered past negotiations and ensure that stakeholders receive a message that is consistent in tone and content.
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