Has the VA improved? Internal data show it's a mixed bag

Since the 2014 crisis when President Obama tapped former Procter & Gamble CEO Bob McDonald to take over as Veterans Affairs secretary and overhaul the agency, there have been mixed results, according to internal documents obtained by USA TODAY. The VA provided additional statistics showing areas of improvement and decline during McDonald's tenure.

Exclusive: Internal documents detail secret VA quality ratings

Areas of improvement

• Urinary tract infections related to catheters: 30.9% decrease since 2014

• Death rate within one day of hospital stay: 25% lower

• Rate of staph infections: 21.7% lower

• Percentage of callers who hung up before VA answered: 15.3% decrease

• Death rate within 30 days of hospital stays: 12% lower

• Duration of hospital stays compared to expected duration: 11.5% shorter

• Speed answering telephone calls: 9.4% faster

• Rate of hospitalizations preventable with better primary care: 5.9% lower

• Percentage of patients who say they got timely routine appointments: 5.3% higher

• Rate of readmission within 30 days of inpatient neurology treatment: 4.9% lower

• Readmission within 30 days of inpatient cardiorespiratory treatment: 2.6% less

• Readmission within 30 days of general medicine treatment: 2.1% less

• Job satisfaction among VA employees: 0.9% improved

• Percentage of patients highly satisfied with care during hospital stays: 0.4% better

• Rate of readmission within 30 days of surgery: 0.1% lower

Areas of decline

• Medical problems related to ventilators: 8.5% higher

• Percentage of hospital admission decisions that met industry standards: 6% lower

• Percentage of specialty care appointments for new patients completed within 30 days: 5.9% lower

• Turnover rate for registered nurses: 5.6% higher

• Rate of in-hospital complications: 5.1% higher

• Rate of infections related to catheters in the blood stream: 4.2% higher

• Percentage of decisions to continue hospitalization that met industry standards: 3.8% lower

• Readmission within 30 days of inpatient cardiovascular treatment: 2.8% increase

• Percentage of mental health appointments for new patients completed within 30 days: 1.3% lower

• Employee rating of VA organization: 0.9% lower

• Percentage of primary-care appointments for new patients completed within 30 days: 0.9% lower

Source: VA data from the quarter ending June 30, 2014, compared with the quarter ending June 30, 2016, when available. When unavailable, data closest to that time frame were used.