Cancer care quality in VA and community settings after the MISSION Act
Assessing Quality of VA and Community Care in the MISSION Era
We are comparing how well cancer care works for Veterans who get treatment inside VA hospitals versus from community doctors now that the MISSION Act changed where Veterans can go.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Veterans Health Administration NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ann Arbor, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11267222 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will use VA records and VA-purchased community care data to compare timeliness, coordination, and quality of cancer treatments before and after the CHOICE/MISSION policy changes. They will identify patients who split care between VA and community providers and measure delays, duplicated tests, and differences in treatment plans. The team will create and apply quality measures to flag where Veterans face higher risk of fragmented or lower-quality cancer care. Results will be shared with VA partners to help target improvements and reduce harmful gaps in care.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Veterans diagnosed with cancer who receive care through VA facilities and/or VA-purchased community providers since the CHOICE/MISSION era.
Not a fit: People who are not Veterans, those without a cancer diagnosis, or Veterans who receive all cancer care solely outside the VA are unlikely to benefit directly from this project's findings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help reduce delays and duplicated testing and improve coordination of cancer treatment for Veterans who receive care across VA and community providers.
How similar studies have performed: Prior studies have often found higher measured quality in VA care compared with community care, but using recent MISSION-era data to study fragmentation and coordination across systems is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
Ann Arbor, United States
- Veterans Health Administration — Ann Arbor, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hofer, Timothy P. — Veterans Health Administration
- Study coordinator: Hofer, Timothy P.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.