Dive Brief:
-
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) did not report potentially dangerous medical providers to a required national database, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review.
-
The GAO reviewed five VA medical centers and found “reviews were not always timely” and “VA officials did not report eight of the nine doctors who should have been reported.”
-
The GAO offered four recommendations for executive action to resolve the VA reporting issues, including improving documentation and timely reviews. The GAO said the VA concurred with the recommendations and will implement them.
Dive Insight:
The GAO reviewed five VA medical centers with alleged clinical care issues and examined how the centers reviewed a total of 148 providers between October 2013 and March 2017. "The selected (VA medical centers) were unable to provide documentation of these reviews for almost half of the 148 providers," according to the report.
Without that documentation, VA medical center officials "may lack information needed to reasonably ensure that VA providers are competent to provide safe, high-quality care to veterans and to make appropriate decisions about these providers' privileges,” the GAO wrote.
The VA has worked for the past few years to resolve issues with the healthcare system, most notably excessive wait times. One tactic has been improving telehealth. Earlier this year, the VA announced plans to open five telemental health centers and a series of telehealth and mobile application initiatives to expand access to care and enable veterans to get healthcare at home. The VA also recently released a proposed rule that would let healthcare providers treat patients remotely anywhere, regardless of state telehealth laws.
The VA is also looking to expand private sector providers in veterans’ healthcare. President Donald Trump recently signed the VA Choice and Quality Employment Act that provides $2.1 billion for the Veterans Choice Program. The program pays for private-sector care for veterans who don’t have ready access to VA hospitals and clinics.