Provision of Mental Health Services in the Veterans Health Administration: A Nationwide Comparison With Other Providers

On average, Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA) mental healthcare facilities offer significantly more treatment modalities, specialized services, and dedicated treatment programs than non-VHA facilities, according to a new study by Yale Psychiatry researchers published online in Psychiatric Services.

The study by first author Hieronimus Loho, fourth-year student at Yale School of Medicine, and Robert Rosenheck, MD, professor of psychiatry and public health, examined data from over 10,000 mental health facilities nationwide and found that VHA facilities, compared to non-VHA facilities, are especially more likely to provide services such as electroconvulsive therapy, telemedicine, integrated primary care, chronic illness management, supportive housing, vocational rehabilitation, and psychiatric emergency services, among others.

The authors say these national survey data indicate that VHA facilities appear to provide more comprehensive and integrated specialized mental health services than non-VHA mental health facilities.