Understanding racial and ethnic differences in patient experiences with outpatient health care in Veterans Affairs Medical Centers.

Background: Racial and ethnic differences in patient health care experiences have not been well examined in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System.

Objectives: To examine racial/ethnic differences in outpatient health care experiences within and between VA medical facilities.

Research Design: We assessed within-facility and between-facility racial/ethnic differences in responses to the 2010 VA Survey of Healthcare Experiences of Patients using mixed-effects multinomial regression.

Subjects: A total of 211,459 respondents (53.2%) to a random survey of outpatients from 910 VA medical facilities (71.9% non-Hispanic white, 15.1% non-Hispanic black, 6.4% Hispanic, and 6.7% Other race/ethnicity).

Measures: Negative and positive patient-reported experiences in 8 domains of health care.

Results: Between-facility effects for black race were higher for 7 domains of negative experiences [risk differences (RDs): 0.37% to 1.64%] and lower for 6 domains of positive experiences (RDs: -0.69% to -2.54%). Between-facility effects for Hispanic ethnicity were higher for 5 domains of negative experiences (RDs: 0.60%-1.34%) and lower for 5 domains of positive experiences (RDs: -1.00% to -1.88%). Hispanic ethnicity was also associated with higher within-facility rates of positive experiences for 5 domains of care (RDs: 2.97%-4.08%). Other race/ethnicity was associated with significantly higher within-facility rates of negative experiences (RDs: 2.04%-3.95%) and lower rates of positive experiences for all 8 domains (RDs: -2.05% to -4.70%).

Conclusions: In a national random sample of Veterans managed in the VA Healthcare System, we demonstrated significant within-facility and between-facility racial and ethnic differences in outpatient health care experiences, with differing patterns for each minority group.