Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals generally outperformed other hospitals in most categories in the quality metrics used in the federal government’s Hospital Compare rankings, write Northwestern University researchers in an article in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Compared with 4,010 non-VA hospitals, the 129 VA institutions had lower 30-day mortality and readmission rates in all categories, and did better in six of nine patient-safety indicators (and no worse in the other three).

However, metrics for  physician and nurse communication, noise, pain management and clinical responsiveness were generally worse in the VA hospitals than in the civilian ones.

To read the JAMA article, please hit this link.