The Tribune reports today that the VA has finished its investigation of the substandard care received by many of our veterans at the VA in Marion. In total, 34 people were seriously injured and nine were left dead as a result of bad care. The investigation could not determine if 10 of the 34 left injured, who later died, was the direct result of their care at Marion.
The article reports that:
Dr. Michael Kussman, undersecretary for health for the Veterans Health Administration, pledged to correct the problems and announced a series of reforms, including steps to improve quality of care, physician credentialing and administrative oversight. He also announced the formation of an administrative board to investigate whether additional actions should be taken.
While this is good that the VA wants to make substantial changes to improve their quality of care and oversight, it is unfortunate that so many had to die for them to stand-up and take notice. Senator Durbin expressed his disappointment with the investigation for not turning up more information than what was originally known. He also hopes that the VA will not dilly-dally on instituting these reforms.
While this story has shaken up the public and has brought attention to the lack of publicly available information about our doctors in the VA, this is far from a VA story. As we have blogged about before, there exists little information available to patients about their doctors and their credentials.
It is high time that Congress opens up to the public the National Practitioners Data Bank. Even though this federal program has problems, it is the only nationwide resource that tracks our doctors. (Read what we have said before.) Why should we trust hospitals to do what my father taught me, "Do your home work and look around for the best option before you do anything." And with the rise in health care costs coupled with my well being, I would like all the information I can about one of the most important decisions we ever have to make - Who do I trust with my health?
Let's ask our state and federal legislators to lift the medical wall of silence and allow us to make informed decisions about who we want to trust our lives to.
Comments