Audit of Consult Timeliness for VA and Community Care

As mandated by the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, the VA OIG initiated an audit in January 2025 to assess whether VA met established timeliness standards for processing consults for direct (VA-provided) and community care, in accordance with existing timeliness requirements under the MISSION Act and related regulations and guidance.

The OIG found that VHA did not consistently meet timeliness requirements during the first quarter of fiscal year 2025, the period of review. Fourteen percent of VA consults and 21 percent of community care consults were not sent to the receiving service within the standard of two business days; 45 percent of VA consults and 60 percent of community care consults did not meet, respectively, the three  and seven day scheduling standards; and 51 percent of VA consults and 49 percent of community care consults did not meet timeliness standards for the time it took veterans to receive care.

Timeliness challenges were driven by process and system limitations affecting how VA and community care appointments are scheduled and managed. These issues align with long standing concerns about veterans’ access to health care and ongoing attention to MISSION Act compliance. VHA leaders confirmed the problems were still occurring as of October 2025 and that corrective efforts were underway but not yet resolved. The OIG’s follow-up analysis from November 2025 through January 2026 showed the same issues persisted.

The under secretary for health concurred with the OIG’s two recommendations to improve consult timeliness and scheduling.