Improving trends in gender disparities in the Department of Veterans Affairs: 2008-2013

Am J Public Health. 2014 Sep;104 Suppl 4(Suppl 4):S529-31. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302141.

Abstract

Increasing numbers of women veterans using Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services has contributed to the need for equitable, high-quality care for women. The VA has evaluated performance measure data by gender since 2006. In 2008, the VA launched a 5-year women's health redesign, and, in 2011, gender disparity improvement was included on leadership performance plans. We examined data from VA Office of Analytics and Business Intelligence quarterly gender reports for trends in gender disparities in gender-neutral performance measures from 2008 to 2013. Through reporting of data by gender, leadership involvement, electronic reminders, and population management dashboards, VA has seen a decreasing trend in gender inequities on most Health Effectiveness Data and Information Set performance measures.

MeSH terms

  • Diagnostic Techniques and Procedures
  • Female
  • Healthcare Disparities / trends*
  • Humans
  • Leadership
  • Male
  • Mass Screening
  • Quality of Health Care / trends*
  • Reminder Systems
  • Sex Factors
  • United States
  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs / organization & administration*
  • United States Department of Veterans Affairs / trends*
  • Veterans Health