Abstract
The Department of Veterans Affairs is the nation’s largest provider of mental health services and offers an unparalleled range of programs and treatments. Drawing on its size, scope, and mission, VA provides a comprehensive, integrated continuum of mental health care, unreplicated in the private sector. The VA healthcare system employs a wealth of clinical expertise; employees focused on the mission of providing timely, state-of-the-art care to all Veterans throughout their lifespan. As a unified system, the VA has the organizational ability to disseminate, implement, and monitor the quality of its clinical care. National policies, strategic planning, an electronic medical record, expertise in and wide adoption of technology, encouragement of innovation and dissemination of best practices based on research, quality improvement with a focus on national standards, metrics and outcomes, and collaboration with DoD and community partners are foundations for VA’s abundant innovations and success in providing excellent mental health care. An examination of the unique factors and programs that have positioned VA to provide high-quality integrated, evidence-based treatment are discussed.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
US Department of Veterans Affairs. Fiscal year 2017 annual report: modernizing veteran health care. Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs; 2017.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. VHA handbook 1103.3: mental health program guidelines for the new Veterans Health Administration. Washington, DC: Office of Patient Care Services, Department of Veterans Affairs; 1999.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. FY 2018–2024 strategic plan. Washington, DC: Office of Patient Care Services, Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved from: https://www.va.gov/performance/. Accessed 2 Dec 2017.
Tanielian, T, Farris C, Batka C, et al. Ready to serve: Community based provider capacity to deliver culturally confident, quality mental health care to veterans and their families. Rand Corporation. https://WWW.Rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR806.HTML. Published November, 2014. Accessed 13 Jan 2018.
Association of VA Psychologist Leaders. The threat to veterans mental health care of renewing or expanding the choice program without supplemental funding; 2017. Retrieved from http://advocacy.avapl.org/pubs/AVAPL%20White%20Paper%20Veterans%20MH%20Care%20and%20Choice%20Program%20Renewal.pdf. Accessed 7 Apr 2018.
Longman P, Gordon S. VA health care: a system worth saving. Prepared for the American Legion; 2017. Retrieved from https://www.legion.org/publications/238801/longman-gordon-report-va-healthcare-system-worth-saving. Accessed on 13 Jan 2018.
Commission on Care. Commission on care: final report; 2016. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/sitesusa/wp-content/uploads/sites/912/2016/07/Commission-on-Care_Final-Report_063016_FOR-WEB.pdf. Accessed on 31 Mar 2018.
Watkins KE, et al. The quality of medication treatment for mental disorders in the Department of Veterans Affairs and in private-sector plans. Psychiatr Serv (Wash). 2015;67(4):391–6. Epub.
Barry CN, Bowe TR, Suneja A. An update on the quality of medication treatment for mental disorders in the VA. Psychiatr Serv. 2016;67(8):930.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. VHA handbook 1160.01: uniform mental health services in VA medical centers and clinics. Washington, DC: Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Department of Veterans Affairs; 2008.
VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines. VA/DoD clinical practice guidelines. Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense; 2010.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. VHA handbook 1160.05: local implementation of evidence-based psychotherapies for mental and behavioral health conditions. Washington, DC: Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Department of Veterans Affairs; 2012.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. Suicide among veterans and other Americans, 2001–2014. Office of Suicide Prevention. Updated August 2017. Accessed 24 Feb 2018.
McCarthy JF, Bossarte RM, Katz IR, et al. Predictive modeling and concentration of the risk of suicide: implications for preventative interventions in the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Am J Public Health. 2015;105(9):1935–42.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. Facts about veteran suicide. US Department of Veterans Affairs mental health factsheet. Washington, DC: Author; 2018.
IOM (Institute of Medicine). In: Donaldson MS, Yordy KD, Lohr KN, Vanselow NA, editors. Primary care: America’s health in a new era. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1996.
PTSD: National Center for PTSD. http://www.ptsd.va.gov/about/divisions/index.asp. Updated February 11, 2016. Accessed 13 Jan 2018.
Lemle R. Choice program expansion jeopardizes high-quality VHA mental health services. Fed Pract. 2018;35(3):18–24.
VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines. Management of substance use disorders (SUD). Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense; 2009.
US. Department Of Veterans Affairs. Factsheet: VHA mental health care. US Department of Veterans Affairs mental health factsheet; 2016. Retrieved from: https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/factsheets/April-2016-Mental-Health-Fact-Sheet.pdf.
SAMHSA (2017). Smoking and mental illness among adults in the United States. The CBHSQ report. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/report_2738/ShortReport-2738.html.
Duffy SA, Kilbourne AM, Austin KL, Dalack GW, Woltmann EM, Waxmonsky J, Noonan D. Risk of smoking and receipt of cessation services among veterans with mental disorders. Psychiatr Serv. 2012;63(4):325.
VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guidelines. Management of Tobacco use disorders (SUD). Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense; 2009.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. FastStats; 2017. https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html.
Ploppert JR, Smits P. The history and origins of the VA’s domiciliary care program. Washington, DC: Office of Mental Health Operations, US Department Of Veterans Affairs; 2014.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. FY 2014–2020 strategic plan. Washington, DC: Office of Patient Care Services, Department of Veterans Affairs; 2014.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. VA programs for homeless veterans. US Department of Veterans Affairs factsheet. Published January 2018. Washington, DC: Author.
Vet Center Program. US Department of Veterans Affairs. http://www.vetcenter.va.gov/. Updated January 17, 2018. Accessed 24 Feb 2018.
Wittson CL, Affleck DC, Johnson V. Two-way television group therapy. Ment Hosp. 1961;12:22–3.
Whitson CL, Benshoter R. Two-way television: helping the medical center reach out. Am J Psychiatr. 1972;129:136–9.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. Telemental health in the Department of Veterans Affairs. US Department of Veterans Affairs health factsheet. Published February 2018. Washington, DC: Author.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2018.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lowman, C.A. (2019). Optimizing Clinical Outcomes in VA Mental Health Care. In: Ritchie, E., Llorente, M. (eds) Veteran Psychiatry in the US. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05384-0_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05384-0_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05383-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05384-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)