Evaluating the Readiness of VA Medical Centers
Project Lead: Aram Dobalian, Ph.D., J.D.
The Evaluating the Readiness of VA Medical Centers through the Emergency Management Capabilities Assessment Program (EMCAP) project assesses the emergency preparedness capabilities of the VA medical centers.
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Office of Emergency Management (OEM) developed and implemented a Comprehensive Emergency Management Program assessment process beginning in 2007. This process was designed to determine current readiness of hospitals for a disaster and identify areas for improvement.
Phases I and II of the assessments helped establish fundamental metrics and processes for capturing capabilities.
For Phase III of EMCAP, VEMEC is working with OEM to more fully understand the level of preparedness for each assessed facility by:
- Refining the data collection protocols
- Improving the evaluation methodology
- Strengthening data collection activities
- Incorporating sophisticated quantitative and qualitative methods
Findings and importance
VEMEC is developing and testing performance metrics for hospital readiness as part of this effort. Findings from this work will inform strategic and tactical planning efforts to further enhance VHA's readiness for disasters.
VEMEC is also supporting additional work by OEM to develop metrics to assess the readiness of other aspects of VHA's emergency management systems.
