Differences Between VHA-Delivered and VHA-Purchased Behavioral Health Care in Service and Patient Characteristics.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Federal legislation has expanded Veterans Health Administration (VHA) enrollees' access to VHA-purchased "community care." This study examined differences in the amount and type of behavioral health care delivered in VHA and purchased in the community, along with patient characteristics and area supply and demand factors.

Methods

This retrospective cross-sectional study examined data for 204,094 VHA enrollees with 448,648 inpatient behavioral health stays and 3,467,010 enrollees with 55,043,607 outpatient behavioral health visits from fiscal years 2016 to 2019. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) were calculated for patient and provider characteristics at the outpatient-visit level for VHA and community care. Linear probability models assessed the association betw

SUBMITTER: Vanneman ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10069743 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature