Combined Assessment Program Review of the New Mexico VA Health Care System, Albuquerque, New Mexico

The purpose of the review was to evaluate selected operations, focusing on patient care administration and quality management (QM). During the review, we provided fraud and integrity awareness briefings to 181 employees. The review focused on eight operational activities. The system complied with selected standards in the following two activities (1) coordination of care and (2) physician credentialing and privileging. We identified the institutional disclosure process as an organizational strength. We made recommendations for improvement in the following six activities: • Suicide prevention safety plans • QM • Environment of care • Reusable medical equipment • Magnetic resonance imaging safety • Medication management