Enhanced care coordination provides a blueprint for optimal healthcare, former VA Secretary David Shulkin says

The U.S. healthcare system will thrive if leaders and policymakers take steps to promote holistic care and improved access, the former secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs says.

When David Shulkin, MD, started working at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in 2015, he was struck by the differences in the provision of care compared with what he’d seen in the private sector.

Conventional wisdom may suggest that care delivered in the private sector is more innovative and forward-thinking relative to a government-based model. But in many ways, Shulkin found, the opposite was true.

“I thought I was going to be bringing my best practices from the private sector to the government, and adding value that...