All Reports

Implement a more effective vulnerability management program to address security deficiencies identified during the inspection.

Implement an improved inventory process to ensure that all connected devices used to support VA programs and operations are documented in the Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service.

Ensure network infrastructure equipment is properly installed.

Ensure physical access controls are implemented for communication rooms.

Ensure a video surveillance system is operational and monitored for the data center.

Ensure communication rooms with infrastructure equipment have fire-detection and suppression systems.

Ensure water detection sensors are implemented in the data center.

The VA St. Louis Health Care System Director conducts a fact-finding investigation asnecessary to determine whether the chief of the Emergency Department’s conduct wasinconsistent with VA policy and federal regulations and takes action as appropriate.

The VA St. Louis Health Care System Director establishes a standardized process for theadministration of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale by Emergency Department staff topatients to maintain the integrity of the suicide risk screen.

The VA St. Louis Health Care System Director establishes a formal policy outliningexpectations for the monitoring of patients by Emergency Department nursing staff after triage.

The VA St. Louis Health Care System Director ensures root cause analyses and administrativeinvestigations are conducted efficiently and effectively if chartered for the same event as perVeterans Health Administration policy.

The VA St. Louis Health Care System Director ensures that institutional disclosures arecompleted within the time frame required by the Veterans Health Administration.

The VA St. Louis Health Care System Director ensures compliance with the Veterans HealthAdministration requirement for reporting healthcare professionals to the appropriate statelicensing board when indicated.

The Executive Director evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures leaders conduct institutional disclosures for all applicable sentinel events.

The Executive Director evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures the Protected Peer Review Committee recommends improvement actions for all Level 3 peer reviews.

The Chief of Staff evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures service chiefs establish service-specific criteria for professional practice evaluations.

Ensure that healthcare system finance office staff are made aware of all VA financial policy requirements in the review and management of inactive open obligations, and deobligate any identified excess funds.

Ensure cardholders comply with VA financial policy record retention requirements

Establish controls to confirm approving officials and purchase cardholders review purchases for VA policy compliance and ensure contracting is used when it is in the best interest of the government.

Require purchase cardholders to submit a request for ratification for any unauthorized commitments identified.

Ensure the chief supply chain officer establishes local processes and procedures so that all necessary reports are routinely monitored on the Supply Chain Common Operating Picture, the Generic Inventory Package, or other inventory sites or software systems to ensure performance measures are maintained, as required in the Veterans Health Administration’s Directive 1761, Supply Chain Management Operations.

Ensure supply chain managers implement a plan for staff training to increase awareness of internal controls and data reliability issues, such as conversion factor, within the Generic Inventory Package.

Ensure the chief of supply chain services provides quarterly physical inventory memoranda of “A” classified items to Veterans Integrated Service Network personnel, as required in the Veterans Health Administration’s Directive 1761, Supply Chain Management Operations.

Ensure the chief supply chain officer reviews the facility item master file edit access list of all individuals at the VA medical facility who have permissions to enter or modify data within the item master file each calendar year, as required in the Veterans Health Administration’s Directive 1761, Supply Chain Management Operations.

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

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

Develop a plan to align inventory management practices, such as the use of handheld scanners, bar code labeling, and ABC inventory analysis methodology with VHA policy.

Establish processes to ensure compliance with the Veterans Health Administration directive to complete the B09 reconciliation process.

The Director evaluates and determines additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures leaders evaluate sentinel events and conduct institutional disclosures when criteria are met.

The Chief of Staff evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures practitioners with similar training and privileges complete Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluations of licensed independent practitioners.

The Associate Director evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures electrical receptacles and switches in the mental health unit are covered by metal plates, secured by tamper-resistant screws, and receptacles are flush to the wall.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director reviews processes in place to ensure proper response to future medical emergencies in outpatient clinics to include staff training, emergency notification systems, and emergency documentation processes.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director reviews the process for and compliance with documentation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in outpatient clinic settings, and takes action as indicated.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director works with outpatient clinic leaders to ensure that all deficiencies identified in the after-action plan are completed and that compliance is monitored.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director consults with Office of General Counsel’s Regional Counsel to review the incident and determine if an institutional disclosure is warranted and takes action accordingly.

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Director completes an evaluation of staffs’ understanding of advance care planning, advance directives, and life-sustaining treatment decision processes, and takes action to address identified gaps.

The Chief Medical Officer determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and reviews the credentials file and makes a recommendation on continuing the appointment process for physicians with a potentially disqualifying licensure action.

The Under Secretary for Health directs the Office of Primary Care and Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention to identify barriers to provider documentation of opioid use disorder in progress notes and implement solutions addressing these barriers.

The Under Secretary for Health ensures the Office of Primary Care and Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention determine impediments to maintaining accurate identification of opioid use disorder in electronic health record problem lists and implement policy and training to support accurate use of problem lists.

The Under Secretary for Health confirms the Office of Primary Care and Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention evaluate barriers affecting provider access and use of Department of Defense treatment records in Joint Longitudinal Viewer and implement solutions.

The Under Secretary for Health ensures the Office of Primary Care and Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention improve continuity of care by confirming providers are educated on the navigation and retrieval of Department of Defense treatment records in Joint Longitudinal Viewer.

The Under Secretary for Health requires the Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Clinical Services/Chief Medical Officer to evaluate and update processes for identification of veterans with a history of opioid use disorder for the provision of opioid overdose risk mitigation strategies.

Update the reporting methodology used in public reports to reflect the total time veterans wait for a final claims decision when their higher level reviews require a supplemental claim be established and completed due to an error.

Revise and clearly state the measures used for calculating and reporting the average duration, from the filing of an initial claim until the claim is resolved and claimants no longer take any action under the Appeals Modernization Act claim, and ensure consistency with subsection M of the act.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to ensure that healthcare system finance office staff and initiating services are aware of policy requirements to conduct reviews on all inactive open obligations and deobligate any identified excess funds as required by VA Financial Policy, vol. 2, chap. 5, “Obligations Policy.”

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to ensure that healthcare system finance office staff and initiating services that healthcare system staff are conducting finance quality assurance reviews of obligations that were inactive for more than 90 days, as required by Veterans Health Administration Directive 1733, “VHA Finance Quality Assurance Reviews.”

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to ensure cardholders comply with record retention, prior approval, and purchase card reconciliation requirements as required by VA Financial Policy, vol. 16, chap. 1B, “Government Purchase Card for Micro-Purchases.”

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to ensure cardholders verify that vendors have removed all state and local sales taxes from orders, if applicable.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to ensure authorizing officials implement internal controls over government purchase card activities to ensure compliance with the Government Purchase Card Program.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to establish internal controls to help ensure the healthcare system monitors the Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor formulary for updates, converts supplies to the prime vendor in the item master file, identifies the prime vendor as the mandatory source for these items in the Generic Inventory Package, and properly sets up Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor supply items in VA’s ordering system.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to develop a plan to improve collaboration with the prime vendor and its on-site representative to ensure adequate stock is available to meet orders, reduce the need for the healthcare system to use nonprime vendors, and communicate the healthcare system’s usage and in-stock timing needs.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to ensure a qualified Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor contracting officer’s representative is appointed and performs the required delegated duties.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to establish internal controls to help ensure the healthcare system submits national contract waivers and justifications prior to purchasing available formulary items from nonprime vendor sources.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to ensure that prime vendor contract performance issues are routinely reported to the Medical Supplies Program Office and Strategic Acquisition Center using established Veterans Health Administration reporting tools.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to develop formalized processes for monitoring and achieving identified efficiency targets and use available pharmacy data to make business decisions.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to develop and implement a plan to achieve an inventory turnover rate closer to the Veterans Health Administration’s recommended level.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director to develop and implement a plan to report the results of facility-based inventory audits of noncontrolled drug line items, and any follow-up actions taken, as required by Veterans Health Administration policy.

The VA New York Harbor Healthcare System director establish processes to ensure compliance with the Veterans Health Administration directive which requires that B09 reconciliations are signed by the lead pharmacy technician and include appropriate supporting documentation.

The West Texas VA Health Care System Director ensures that community living center nursing staff are trained on their roles, responsibilities, and necessary actions when responding to a medical emergency.

The West Texas VA Health Care System Director certifies that mock codes are completed within the community living center at regular intervals and include all community living center nursing staff.

The West Texas VA Health Care System Director ensures that documentation requirements are met by community living center clinical staff and monitors compliance.

The assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer implement processes to prevent the use of prohibited software on agency devices.

The assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer ensure network segmentation controls are applied to all network segments with medical devices and special-purpose systems.

The St. Cloud VA Medical Center director ensure communication rooms with infrastructure equipment have adequate environmental controls.

The Chief Medical Officer evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures the Medical Executive Board recommends continuation of privileges based, in part, on Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation results.

The Chief Medical Officer evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures providers complete Comprehensive Suicide Risk Evaluations on the same day as patients’ positive suicide risk screens.

The Executive Director evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures the Executive Leadership Board recommends, implements, and monitors improvement actions.

The Executive Director evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures staff either conduct an individual root cause analysis for all events receiving an actual or potential safety assessment code score of three or include the events in an aggregated review.

The Chief of Staff determines the reasons for noncompliance and ensures providers with similar training and privileges complete licensed independent practitioners’ Focused Professional Practice Evaluations.

The Chief of Staff evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures service chiefs recommend licensed independent practitioners’ continued privileges based on Ongoing Professional Practice Evaluation activities.

The Associate Director and Associate Director, Patient Care Services evaluate and determine any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensure staff remove supplies from shipping cartons and corrugated boxes prior to putting them in clean storage areas.

Improve vulnerability management processes to ensure system changes occur within organization timelines.

Develop and approve an authorization to operate for the special-purpose system.

The Executive Director evaluates and determines additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures leaders conduct and accurately document institutional disclosures for applicable sentinel events.

The Assistant Director Clinical Services evaluates and determines any additional reasons for noncompliance and ensures mental health staff attempt weekly follow-up until care is established for patients discharged from the emergency department who are at intermediate or high acute or chronic risk of suicide.

The under secretary for benefits reduces improper and unknown payments to below 10 percent for the Pension Program.

The under secretary for health reduces improper and unknown payments to below 10 percent for the Purchased Long-Term Services and Supports Program.

Director of the Veterans Transportation Program determines what system changes are needed to meet auto-adjudication goals and implement these changes.

Director of the Veterans Transportation Program conducts outreach to users, solicits feedback, and considers whether system changes are needed based on feedback, to increase self-service portal usage.

Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Operations create an action plan to phase out continued use of the VistA beneficiary travel function.

Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Operations coordinates with the veteran’s health administration office of finance and assess whether duplicate payments were made to veterans requesting travel reimbursement since the new system went live.

The Director determines the reasons for noncompliance and ensures leaders conduct institutional disclosures for applicable sentinel events.