Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System (EOVAHCS) has announced that it received a 5 of 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings and 5 Stars from CMS’ quarterly patient satisfaction review, the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (HCAHPS)].

EOVAHCS continues to sustain a 5 5-star rating year after year by delivering on value-based healthcare to our Veterans and their families.

“The 5-star rating is not just a reflection of our past efforts but also an encouragement for us to strive for even greater heights,” said EOVAHCS Chief Executive Officer, Kimberly Denning, DNP, RN. “For the second year in a row, EOVAHCS rants at the top, showing its commitment to providing the highest quality of care to Veterans.”

Nationally, VA hospitals continue to outperform non-VA hospitals on both CMS’ Overall Star Rating and their quarterly patient satisfaction survey:

• Patient Satisfaction Survey: VA outperformed non-VA hospitals in the most recent CMS HCAHPS star ratings, with 79% of VA facilities receiving a summary star rating of 4 or 5 stars compared to 40% of non-VA hospitals. This represents the ninth consecutive quarter in which VA facilities have outperformed non-VA counterparts.

• Hospital Quality Ratings: In this year’s CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings, more than 58% of VA hospitals included received 4- or 5-star ratings compared to 40% of non-VA hospitals. This is only the second year VA hospitals have been included in this review, and VA has outperformed non-VA health care in both years.

These findings come at a time when Veteran trust in VA outpatient care has reached an alltime record high of 92%, based on a survey of more than 440,000 Veterans. Additionally, these findings are consistent with a recent systematic review that found that VA health care is consistently as good as — or better than — non-VA health care.

Both CMS ratings aim to improve patients’ ability to make informed decisions about where they receive care. CMS awards Overall Star Ratings to hospitals based on five categories: mortality, safety of care, readmission, patient experience, and timely and effective care.

CMS’ HCAHPS summary star ratings combine information across ten measures of patient experience, including staff communication and responsiveness, hospital environment, willingness to recommend the hospital, and overall hospital rating.

This year’s Overall Star Ratings are based on data collected between July 2019 and March 2023, and this quarter’s HCAHPS star ratings are based on data collected between October 2022 and September 2023.