title: Geographic proximity of HRSA, VA, and DOD clinics: opportunities for interagency collaboration to improve quality.
abstract: Clinics funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense's Military Health System (MHS), and Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) all play a role in serving the military, veterans, and their families. Publicly available location data on federal health care clinics was merged, analyzed, and geographically overlaid using GIS. Results showed that 20% of U.S. counties contain both HRSA and VA sites, and 5% contain HRSA and MHS facilities. Additionally, 80% of VA and 76% of MHS clinics are within 10 miles of a HRSA clinic. Specific clinic types of interest also overlay; for instance, 90% of HRSA homeless clinics are in the same county as a VA facility. This demonstrated geographic proximity of health care sites may indicate prime opportunities for collaboration between HRSA, VA, and MHS systems to improve quality of care for the military, veterans, and their families.
authors.affiliation: Haas Center for Public Service, Stanford University and HRSA Office of Health IT and Quality, US Department of Health and Human Services, USA.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brownell
authors.forename: Imam
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Xierali
authors.forename: Angelica P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calvo
mesh_terms: D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D014481:United States; D059030:United States Department of Defense / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014488:United States Health Resources and Services Administration / Q000458:organization & administration*; D058014:Veterans Health