Recommendations
2222
| ID | Report Number | Report Title | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24-03691-175 | Audit of the Healthcare Enrollment Program at VA Medical Facilities | Audit | ||
1 Implement comprehensive national policy on how staff should process enrollment applications that are missing information—including a firm and clear requirement that they enter incomplete applications in the Veterans Health Administration Enrollment System.
2 Coordinate with the Veterans Benefits Administration to identify opportunities to further streamline enrolling veterans in both administrations.
3 Define and implement guidelines for applications received at community-based outpatient clinics to make certain that they are processed consistently and promptly across the Veterans Health Administration.
4 Ensure the Health Eligibility Center regularly evaluates medical center enrollment practices.
5 Establish and implement procedures to make sure enrollment staff adhere to requirements in reviewing the records of veterans who may qualify for higher‑priority groups.
6 Standardize how Veterans Integrated Service Networks assess whether medical facilities are complying with Veterans Health Administration enrollment policies.
7 Determine whether enrollment coordinators nationwide should employ the Health Eligibility Center’s audit tool, and if so, direct that its use is required.
8 Define in policy how medical facility enrollment coordinators should conduct oversight.
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| 24-03176-247 | Review of VHA’s Management of Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction in Women Veterans | Hotline Healthcare Inspection | ||
1 The Under Secretary for Health develops a process to identify patients with a diagnosis of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and implements an action plan that ensures monitoring of compliance with evidence-based care.
2 The Under Secretary for Health reviews Veterans Health Administration’s compliance with American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/Heart Failure Society of America guideline-directed medical therapy medications for the treatment of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (stages C or D) in women veterans and implements an action plan to ensure compliance.
3 The Under Secretary for Health ensures women veterans with a diagnosis of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction who are not receiving guideline-directed medical therapy medications have a documented rationale for the exception and implements an action plan to ensure compliance.
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| 25-03218-133 | Audit of VHA and VBA Controls Over the Toxic Exposures Fund | Audit | ||
1 Ensure the Veterans Benefits Administration updates its Toxic Exposures Fund cost estimation methodology to reflect how it plans to use the funds.
2 Implement monitoring procedures to ensure Veterans Health Administration expenditure transfers follow statutes.
3 Assess lessons learned and establish standard operating procedures to integrate oversight roles, responsibilities, and clear guidance for reconciling Toxic Exposures Fund costs.
4 Make certain that the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Office of Financial Management and Office of Human Capital Services validate the actual number of Toxic Exposures Fund–supported employees and properly code them in VA’s HR Smart.
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| 25-04253-243 | Healthcare Facility Inspection of the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System in Honolulu, Hawaii | Healthcare Facility Inspection | ||
1 The Chief of Staff and Associate Director for Patient Care Services develop workflows that describe how each team member participates in the process for communicating test results.
Closure Date:
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| 25-04450-218 | Review of a Patient’s Discharge from the Central Virginia VA Health Care System in Richmond | Hotline Healthcare Inspection | ||
1 The Central Virginia VA Health Care System Director evaluates inpatient mental health unit discharge practices and develops processes to assess a caregiver’s capability to ensure a safe discharge.
2 The Central Virginia VA Health Care System Director ensures complaints to the patient advocate are reviewed and addressed in accordance with Veterans Health Administration Directive 1003.04, VHA Patient Advocacy.
3 The Central Virginia VA Health Care System Director ensures medication reconciliation is completed at discharge and during post-discharge encounters according to Veterans Health Administration Directive 1345, Medication Reconciliation.
4 The Central Virginia VA Health Care System Director ensures compliance with Veterans Health Administration Directive 1199, Reporting Cases of Abuse and Neglect, requirements related to clinical staff escalating encounters involving potential abuse and neglect.
5 The Central Virginia VA Health Care System Director conducts a comprehensive review of the patient’s hospitalization and post-discharge encounters and takes action as indicated, including quality management improvement processes.
Closure Date:
6 The Under Secretary for Health considers establishing a process, to be used on non‑business days, that enables Veterans Crisis Line responders to timely escalate concerns of non‑imminent abuse to a mandated reporter.
Closure Date:
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| 25-00258-217 | Healthcare Facility Inspection of the Montana VA Healthcare System in Fort Harrison | Healthcare Facility Inspection | ||
1 The Associate Director keeps patient care areas clean and stores dirty and clean items separately.
Closure Date:
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| 25-02228-172 | Review of VBA’s Unidentifiable Mail Certification Process | Review | ||
1 Update the Adjudication Procedures Manual to require documentation of each specific action taken when staff certify mail as unidentifiable.
2 Provide all employees who process unidentified mail appropriate access to all systems and resources necessary to identify a claimant.
3 Implement a plan to ensure all Veterans Benefits Administration contact and correspondence with claimants is documented and stored as required by the Adjudication Procedures Manual. As part of this plan, ensure documentation is easily accessible to appropriate staff.
4 Provide claims assistants who process unidentified mail with consistent quality reviews specific to their handling of unidentified mail.
5 Consider implementing a training module on processing unidentified mail, including guidance on appropriate work credit for claims assistants, and incorporating it into the national training curriculum. This training could be beneficial for all personnel involved in mail processing, including supervisors and records management officers.
Total Monetary Impact of All Recommendations
Open: $822,468
Closed: $0
Total: $822,468
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| 25-01098-103 | Audit of Program Management for the Benefits Enterprise Platform Modernization | Audit | ||
1 Develop and maintain a Benefits Enterprise Platform modernization program schedule that (1) captures both agile and nonagile tasks and (2) documents the time frame for the delivery of all system modernization requirements.
2 Ensure staff follow VA’s Product (Line) Accountability and Reporting System Guide to include all program schedule information in the System.
3 Develop reliable, validated life cycle cost estimates for the Benefits Enterprise Platform modernization program that support planning and budgeting as required by Office of Management and Budget Circulars A-130 and A‑11.
4 Include all Benefits Enterprise Platform modernization costs in the VA’s Product (Line) Accountability and Reporting System as required by the Veteran-Focused Integration Process Guide, and track Cost of War Toxic Exposures Fund obligations and expenditures in the Office of Information and Technology PACT Act Dashboard consistent with VA financial policy.
5 Establish a mechanism for enforcing VA policy that requires minor applications to include an approved security assessment before being placed on VA’s network.
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| 25-04052-222 | Healthcare Facility Inspection of the VA Asheville Health Care System in North Carolina | Healthcare Facility Inspection | ||
1 Facility leaders implement measures to keep all eyewash stations clean and safe for emergency use.
2 Facility leaders implement measures to keep walkways free of obstructions to maintain clear exit routes.
3 The Director updates the facility’s written policy for test result communications to comply with requirements in Veterans Health Administration Directive 1088(1), Communicating Test Results to Providers and Patients.
Closure Date:
4 The Chief of Staff and Associate Director of Patient Care Services/Nurse Executive develop and implement written workflows for each service that comply with Veterans Health Administration Directive 1088(1), Communicating Test Results to Providers and Patients.
Closure Date:
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| 25-03623-147 | Review of Timeliness of Mental Health Community Care Appointments | Review | ||
1 Consider the need for adjustments to current or for future contractual requirements that would improve mental health appointment timeliness by third-party administrators.
Closure Date:
2 Identify and disseminate best practices used by healthcare systems to contact veterans, evaluate barriers to broader adoption of those practices, and implement a plan that supports consistent use of those best practices to improve scheduling timeliness.
3 Ensure that systems used to identify available community providers capture the full range of preferences that matter to veterans, so scheduling can better align with their individual needs and expectations for care.
4 Evaluate whether the third-party administrator’s network adequacy standards for mental health providers meet demand for both in person and telehealth, and if needed, modify the language to explicitly require sufficient availability of both in‑person and telehealth mental health providers to meet veteran demand.
5 Conduct a review to determine the best approach for increasing external use of available systems by community providers to streamline communication between the Veterans Health Administration and community providers and develop, implement, and monitor an action plan based on the review’s findings.
6 Assess the need for standardized guidance or contractual requirements that prohibit community mental health providers from requesting additional forms containing information already provided in the Veterans Health Administration referral documentation and implement measures to ensure compliance.
Closure Date:
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15760