Fort Harrison VA recognized for exceptional care quality and patient satisfaction | Helena News

HELENA, Mont. – The Montana VA Health Care System (MTVAHCS) announced the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center has been recognized as an overall 4-star hospital quality rating this summer by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. 

According to MTVAHCS, Fort Harrison VA Medical Center also had an overall 5-star patient experience survey rating. 

“The Montana VA is a championship team with one focus – providing the greatest health care to the world’s greatest patients,” said Duane B. Gill, Executive Director for the Montana VA Health Care System. “Our staff should be proud that their hard work and dedication to serving Montana Veterans has been recognized, again. This is not the recognition of a single day or single event. These 4-Star and 5-Star ratings validate the efforts of every staff member and volunteer who serves our Veterans every day of the year.”

MTVAHCS says these findings come at a time when Veteran trust in VA outpatient care has reached an all-time record high of 92%, based on a survey of more than 440,000 Veterans. In a press release, they also add that 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.

Medicare recognized the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center with an Overall 4-Star Hospital Quality rating in 2023 which was the first year they evaluated VA hospitals. The CMS serves the public as a trusted partner and steward, dedicated to advancing health equity, expanding coverage and improving health outcomes.

Each year, the organization gives star ratings to hospitals based on 46 quality measures in five areas: mortality, safety, readmission, patient experience, and timely care. The ratings are based on data from different time periods—overall ratings use data from July 2019 to March 2023, while patient experience ratings use data from October 2022 to September 2023.

Recent ratings show that VA hospitals are doing better than non-VA hospitals. In the latest patient satisfaction survey, 79% of VA hospitals received high ratings (4 or 5 stars), compared to 40% of non-VA hospitals. This has been the case for nine quarters in a row according to the press release from MTVAHCS. 

For overall quality, over 58% of VA hospitals got 4- or 5-star ratings this year, while 40% of non-VA hospitals did. This is only the second year VA hospitals have been reviewed, and they have outperformed non-VA hospitals both times.

VA hospitals scored better than non-VA hospitals in all ten patient satisfaction areas. A review of over 40 studies found VA care is consistently as good as or better than non-VA care.

The Montana VA Health Care System serves over 49,000 veterans in a large area of Montana, is staffed by 1,400 people, with a third being veterans themselves.

Matt Rosine, a public affairs officer from the Montana VA says the recognition is a result of the hard work of VA health professionals throughout Montana, “While we know that Fort Harrison is being recognized, this is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Montana VA health professionals across the state.”