All Reports

Instruct the Office of Finance to review the $14 million retained by the medical centers to ensure these funds were, or will be, spent in accordance with all applicable VA policies and federal laws.

Require the Office of Finance to strengthen controls over designated specific purpose funds so that Veterans Integrated Service Network chief financial officers can account for all the distributed funds and make certain that the funds are used for the intended purpose.

Define the roles and responsibilities of the appropriate assistant under secretaries, program office staff, and regional and medical center staff in the implementation and monitoring of the substance use disorder hiring initiative and ensure the relative priority of the initiative is communicated; hiring progress is monitored; possible hiring challenges are addressed to the extent possible; and actions are taken as needed to meet the goals of the hiring initiative.

Establish internal controls to help ensure the healthcare system monitors the Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor product list for updates and completes the item conversion process

Ensure that prime vendor contract performance issues are routinely reported to the Medical Supplies Program Office and the Strategic Acquisition Center using established Veterans Health Administration reporting tools.

In coordination with the Strategic Acquisition Center, submit ratifications for any unauthorized commitments following the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Ensure that the facility-level contracting officer’s representative and ordering officers are appointed and delegated properly and perform all required duties according to the scope and limitation of the designee’s authority.

Establish internal controls to help ensure the healthcare system submits national contract requests for waiver and justifications prior to purchasing available product list items from nonmandatory procurement instruments.

Ensure cardholders obtain a proper prior approval and maintain segregation of duties, and ensure that cardholders and approving officials perform prompt purchase card reconciliations as required by VA financial policy.

Develop formalized processes and controls to ensure approving officials, cardholders, and the agency contracting office review repetitive open market purchases of goods and services and obtain contracts when it is determined to be in the best interest of the government.

In coordination with the Strategic Acquisition Center, submit a ratification for an unauthorized commitment following the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Develop formalized processes for monitoring and achieving efficiency targets and using available pharmacy data to make business decisions.

Develop and implement a plan to increase inventory turnover to meet or exceed the VHA-recommended level, and complete monthly B09 reconciliations consistently to ensure discrepancies are corrected in a timely manner.

Establish measures to improve compliance with the VA directive to avoid end-of-year pharmaceutical purchases.

The VA Black Hills Health Care System Director ensures that summary suspensions and related privileging actions are conducted in accordance with Veterans Health Administration policy, and monitors for compliance.

The VA Black Hills Health Care System Director in conjunction with facility leaders and surgical service leaders, ensures a focused clinical care review is completed of the care provided by the subject provider according to Veterans Health Administration policy, and takes action as warranted.

The VA Black Hills Health Care System Director, in conjunction with the National Center for Patient Safety, evaluates the patient safety event reporting processes, identifies deficiencies, and takes action as warranted to ensure compliance with entering adverse events or close calls into the Joint Patient Safety Reporting system.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director consults with the Office of General Counsel to ensure system and service line policies and practices related to voluntary and involuntary admissions under the Baker Act provide clear guidance and are consistent with Florida state law as allowed by federal law and Veterans Health Administration regulations.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director ensures that providers document their rationales for initiating involuntary examinations under the Baker Act within a patient’s electronic health record and monitors compliance.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director verifies that a process is in place to provide patients who are admitted for an involuntary examination under the Baker Act with written information on their rights and monitors compliance.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director confirms that mental health staff document offering evidence-based therapies during treatment planning with patients diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder, as required by Veterans Health Administration policy, and monitors compliance.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director ensures that all licensed mental health staff receive annual training on the Baker Act and tracks compliance.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director determines if there is a need for non-mental health providers in the emergency department to complete Baker Act training and takes action as warranted.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director, in consultation with Veterans Health Administration’s Senior Security Officer, ensures system police, emergency department, and mental health staff follow VA policy specific to assisting staff in the prevention of patient elopements prior to an involuntary mental health evaluation and tracks compliance.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director develops a process to provide oversight of compliance with all elements required by state law for use of the Baker Act as permitted by federal law and Veterans Health Administration policy.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director, in consultation with the Office of General Counsel, determines whether Baker Act reporting by the system is required and provides clear guidance for applicable reporting processes.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director develops a process to ensure system policies adhere to Veterans Health Administration Directive 0999(1), medical center policy standardized template as it pertains to assignment of oversight responsibilities.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director directs a review of current patient advocate processes for follow-up and resolution with complainants, updates the process as warranted, and monitors compliance.

The VA North Florida/South Georgia Health System Director considers having the patient advocate process for tracking and monitoring trends capture complaints specific to involuntary admissions for leaders’ awareness and follow-up.

Establish a mechanism to monitor progress of the Digital GI Bill platform implementation under the renegotiated contract to avoid additional costs and delays.

Communicate regularly with the Digital GI Bill platform contractor to ensure that the project’s integrated master schedule or other master scheduling plan is consistently updated to reflect all schedule changes for external dependencies.

Develop strategies to address critical path failures to provide a clear timeline of further implementation activities.

District leaders and the Jackson and Corpus Christi Vet Center Directors collaborate with the support VA medical facility to determine reasons for noncompliance with staff participation on the mental health executive council, take action as indicated, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fort Worth Vet Center Director determine reasons for noncompliance with Readjustment Counseling Service documentation standards, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fayetteville, New Orleans, Jackson, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, and San Antonio Northeast Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with completing four hours of external clinical consultation for clinically complex cases per month, ensure a process is implemented, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Jackson and San Antonio Northeast Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with Vet Center Directors review of 10 percent of active client records monthly for each counselor’s caseload, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fayetteville, New Orleans, Jackson, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, and San Antonio Northeast Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with employees completing select trainings in the required time frame, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fayetteville, New Orleans, Jackson, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, and San Antonio Northeast Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with completion of an outreach plan with all required strategic components, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fayetteville Vet Center Director determine reasons for noncompliance with having an annual risk and vulnerability assessment completed by VA police or local law enforcement, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the New Orleans Vet Center Director determine reasons for noncompliance with monthly fire extinguisher inspections, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the New Orleans, Jackson, and Corpus Christi Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with monthly automated external defibrillator inspections, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fayetteville and Fort Worth Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with having an emergency and crisis plan that includes required components, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fayetteville, Corpus Christi, Fort Worth, and San Antonio Northeast Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with a desktop reference sheet outlining steps for ancillary office staff to follow in case of a suicidal or homicidal client, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fort Collins, Kalispell, Abilene, Salt Lake City, and Cheyenne Vet Center Directors collaborate with the support VA medical facility to determine reasons for noncompliance with staff participation on the mental health executive council, take action as indicated, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fort Collins, Tulsa, Abilene, Salt Lake City, and Cheyenne Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with completing four hours of external clinical consultation for clinically complex cases per month, ensure a process is implemented, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fort Collins, Abilene, and Salt Lake City Vet Centers Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with Vet Center Directors review of 10 percent of active client records monthly for each counselor’s caseload, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fort Collins, Kalispell, Tulsa, Abilene, Salt Lake City, and Cheyenne Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with employees completing select trainings in the required time frame, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fort Collins, Kalispell, Tulsa, Abilene, Salt Lake City, and Cheyenne Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with completion of an outreach plan with all required strategic components, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Cheyenne Vet Center Director determine reasons for noncompliance with completion of an annual fire or safety inspection, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Abilene and Cheyenne Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with having an annual risk and vulnerability assessment completed by VA police or local law enforcement, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fort Collins and Kalispell Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with monthly fire extinguisher inspections, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Salt Lake City Vet Center Director determine reasons for noncompliance with annual fire extinguisher servicing, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fort Collins, Kalispell, Abilene, Salt Lake City, and Cheyenne Vet Center Directors determine reasons for noncompliance with monthly automated external defibrillator inspections, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Salt Lake City Vet Center Director determine reasons for noncompliance with annual automated external defibrillator servicing by VA medical center biomedical engineering, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Cheyenne Vet Center Director determine reasons for noncompliance with building evacuation plans posted in a communal area for staff and visitors, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

District leaders and the Fort Collins Vet Center Director determine reasons for noncompliance with a desktop reference sheet outlining steps for ancillary office staff to follow in case of a suicidal or homicidal client, ensure completion, and monitor compliance.

The District Director monitors compliance with leaders’ completion of morbidity and mortality reviews for client deaths by suicide, including timeliness, as required.

The District Director determines reasons vet center counselors did not complete safety plan components for clients assessed at intermediate or high suicide risk level in either acute, chronic, or both categories; ensures completion of safety plans for all active clients assesses at intermediate or high suicide risk levels; and monitors compliance across all zone vet centers.

The District Director determines reasons staff did not document providing safety plans to clients, ensures that a safety plan was provided to all active clients assessed at intermediate or high suicide risk levels, and monitors compliance across all zone vet centers

The Veterans Crisis Line Director determines the optimal ratio of supervisors to frontline staff needed, makes the best efforts to ensure the ratio is maintained, and takes action as warranted.

The Veterans Crisis Line Director ensures supervisors and staff are aware of postvention resources and monitors for compliance.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director ensures thorough completion of the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System pharmacy corrective actions, and takes action as needed.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director ensures that pharmacy supervisors and staff at the VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System receive the necessary training and written guidance to complete the corrective actions, and monitors for compliance.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director ensures that leaders, whose actions contributed to the incomplete corrective actions and ineffective oversight, receive administrative action, as appropriate.

Require the Office of Integrated Veteran Care and Pharmacy Benefits Management Services to improve community provider compliance when prescribing special-authorization drugs and being responsive to VA pharmacy inquiries. This should include consideration of electronic system capabilities to attach medical justifications, allow community providers to have real-time access to VA’s formulary when prescribing drugs, and enable two-way communication between community providers and VA pharmacists electronically.

Task the Office of Integrated Veteran Care to train community providers on the VA formulary and implement a process to improve tracking of training completion and community providers’ compliance with VA guidance on submitting prescriptions for special-authorization drugs.

Direct Pharmacy Benefits Management Services to update its dashboard to more accurately capture special-authorization drug request processing times and provide the Office of Integrated Veteran Care access to this information for contract management purposes.

Instruct Pharmacy Benefits Management Services to require that VA pharmacy personnel document community care prescriptions for special-authorization drugs in the veteran’s medical record (in consults when applicable or medical notes) when the pharmacy receives the prescription and make clear that the 96-hour processing time is a requirement for these types of drug requests.

Require Pharmacy Benefits Management Services to routinely remind pharmacists that they are responsible for reporting a community provider to the medical facility’s community care office when the provider does not comply with VA documentation requirements for special-authorization drug requests.

Charge facility community care offices to work with pharmacy personnel to report when they receive information from VA pharmacists that community providers did not comply with VA’s documentation requirements for special-authorization drugs. Reporting mechanisms can include submitting Potential Quality Issue Referral reports or Health Care Quality Concern reports to third-party administrators.

Direct Pharmacy Benefits Management Services to standardize requirements for how VA pharmacists code drug requests from community providers in the electronic system that were canceled, rejected, or removed to help VHA determine if corrective actions need to be taken on processes, contract terms, or guidance.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures employees complete the operating model staffing tool reassessment every 90 days.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures facility community care staff report community care patient safety events in the Joint Patient Safety Reporting system.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures patient safety managers or designees brief community care patient safety event trends, lessons learned, and corrective actions at community care oversight council meetings.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures VHA staff scan all community care documents into the patient’s electronic health record within five business days of receipt.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures facility staff attach community diagnostic imaging results to the designated Community Care Consult Result note.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, requires facility community care staff to use the significant findings alert to notify the ordering provider of abnormal diagnostic imaging results.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures facility community care staff make required attempts to obtain medical documentation within 90 days of the appointment after administratively closing consults without medical documentation.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, requires facility community care staff to use the significant findings alert when they administratively close community care consults without medical documentation.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures facility community care staff process community care providers’ requests for services within three business days of receipt.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures facility community care staff assign a level of care coordination to all community care consults as required.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures facility community care staff create and use the Community Care–Care Coordination Plan note for documenting all care coordination activities for consults with an assigned level of care other than basic.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures facility community care staff change the status of community care consults to active within two business days of the consult’s initial entry or date forwarded to community care staff.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures facility community care staff schedule patients for community care appointments within the required time frames.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director, in conjunction with facility directors, ensures facility community care staff confirm patients attended scheduled community care appointments and received care.

The Secretary of Veterans Affairs considers incorporating environmental stewardship values into the goals of the Climate- and Sustainability-Focused Federal Workforce priority action in the VA Sustainability Plan to align with Executive Order 14057.

The Under Secretary for Health evaluates the facility-level Green Environmental Management System program manager position, and determines the position’s responsibilities, if any, in the implementation of the VA Sustainability Plan.

The Under Secretary for Health considers broadening the scope of training, education, and engagement of Veterans Health Administration’s workforce to include and incorporate environmental stewardship values.

The Under Secretary for Health encourages continued efforts by the Veterans Health Administration National Anesthesia Service to track and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from inhalational anesthetics and considers evaluation and implementation of a comprehensive waste anesthetic gas mitigation strategy, in pursuit of the VA Sustainability Plan’s priority action goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.

The Under Secretary for Health considers the relative merits of single-use versus reusable medical devices and evaluates current Veterans Health Administration policy that prohibits the repurposing of single-use medical devices by VA medical centers to increase landfill waste diversion.

The VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System Director evaluates and ensures that telemetry medical instrument technicians and registered nurses comply with Veterans Health Administration and facility policy requirements for documentation and scanning, specifically related to telemetry oxygenation and rhythm strips and change in patient condition.

The VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System Director in conjunction with telemetry nursing leaders, ensures completion of a comprehensive review of the telemetry program and documented oversight of compliance with medical instrument technician monitoring expectations, identifies deficiencies, and takes actions as warranted.

The VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System Director promotes and encourages all staff to use the Joint Patient Safety Reporting system to report patient safety events and ensures telemetry staff and managers are trained on the use of the Joint Patient Safety Reporting system.

The VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System Director evaluates and ensures quality and patient safety event review processes comply with Veterans Health Administration guidance, specifically regarding rejection and follow-up of patient safety reports.

The VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System Director and facility leaders meet all Veterans Health Administration requirements for institutional disclosures for events meeting institutional disclosure criteria.

The VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System Director ensures review of facility clinical alarm management and committee processes, identifies deficiencies, and takes actions as warranted.

Ensure all community dentists who provide dental care to veteran patients are notified and periodically reminded of the preauthorization requirements for any changes to treatment plans.

Conduct expanded postpayment reviews to identify and recover payments for unauthorized dental procedures.

Monitor VA dentists to make sure they include required dental procedure codes, not only general descriptions or Standardized Episodes of Care, on referrals to identify the procedures community dentists are authorized to perform.

Review the current contract language and determine if there is a need to clarify the third-party administrators’ claims adjudication responsibilities in its contracts to include the identification of unauthorized dental procedures and adjudication of possible denials of payment or implement controls within VA that will perform this adjudication function for dental claims.

Enable the Office of Finance’s automated payment system to deny payment for community dental services if the procedure codes on the dental claims do not fall within the Standardized Episodes of Care on the referral.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director develops a process consistent with Veterans Health Administration Directive 1004.01(3) to ensure patients are informed, prior to voluntary admission to the inpatient mental health unit, that the unit is locked and provides services to patients with mental health disorders.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director ensures staff are educated following development of the informed consent process for voluntary admission to the inpatient mental health unit.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director confirms that medical center policy 116-22-10 adheres to Nevada state law relevant to admission to mental health units and is approved in accordance with Veterans Health Administration policies.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director confirms that medical center policy 116-22-10 includes the responsible owners’ oversight and guidance responsibilities as required by Veterans Health Administration Directive 0999(1).

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director ensures staff education regarding changes to the medical center policy 116-22-10.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director ensures that any facility policies involving state law addressing voluntary or involuntary mental health commitments be reviewed by the Office of General Counsel.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director develops a process to ensure facility policies adhere to the Veterans Health Administration Directive 0999(1), medical center policy standardized template.

The Ann Arbor VA Medical Center Director conducts a full review of the patient’s spring to fall 2017 mental health care to identify quality of care improvement opportunities related to inpatient psychiatrist 2’s medical decision-making, staff’s pre-discharge outpatient care planning, and outpatient staff’s collaboration in providing treatment and engagement efforts including the mental health treatment coordinator assignment and role, and takes actions as warranted.

The Battle Creek VA Medical Center Director ensures staff awareness and access to eligibility verification procedures.

The Battle Creek VA Medical Center Director expedites the full implementation of the Transfer and Admission Coordination Office including a centralized phone number and monitors compliance with the standardized checklist.

The Battle Creek VA Medical Center Director expedites the completion and implementation of the interfacility transfers standard operating procedure and monitors compliance.

The Battle Creek VA Medical Center Director ensures the mental health residential rehabilitation treatment program standard operating procedure is aligned with Veterans Health Administration requirements regarding referral and monitors compliance.

The Veterans Integrated Service Network Director evaluates the efficacy of the Interagency Resolution Council and identification of clearly defined objectives and processes to monitor progress and address identified barriers.

The VA Houston Health Care System Director evaluates the efficiency of evidence-based psychotherapy consult management procedures; identifies barriers to timely appointment scheduling, including scheduling processes and staffing needs; and takes action as warranted.

The VA Houston Health Care System Director ensures that administrative support staff document scheduling efforts in patients’ electronic health records, as required by the Veterans Health Administration.

The VA Houston Health Care System Director ensures that staff document offering VA-issued devices for participation in virtual mental health appointments in patients’ electronic health records.

The VA Houston Health Care System Director conducts a review of providers’ lethal means safety assessment and planning with the patient, identifies barriers to effective lethal means safety discussions, and takes action as warranted.

The Under Secretary for Health clarifies the expectations and requirements for homeless program staff’s completion of suicide risk assessments and updates or reviews of safety plans for high risk for suicide patients.