Community Based Outpatient Clinic Reviews Bennington, VT and Littleton, NH Jamestown and Lackawanna, NY Hagerstown, MD and Petersburg, WV

The VA Office of Inspector General reviewed six Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) during the week of August 29, 2011. CBOCs were reviewed in Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 1 at Bennington, VT and Littleton, NH; in VISN 2 at Jamestown and Lackawanna, NY; and, in VISN 5 at Hagerstown, MD and Petersburg, WV. The parent facilities of these CBOCs are White River Junction VA Medical Center (VAMC), VA Western New York Health Care System, and Martinsburg VAMC, respectively. The purpose of the review was to assess whether CBOCs are operated in a manner that provides veterans with consistent, safe, high-quality health care. The review covered the following focused topic areas: mental health continuity of care, short-term fee basis care, women’s health, credentialing and privileging, skills competency, environment and emergency management, Primary Care Management Module, and contracts. OIG noted opportunities for improvement and made a total of 59 recommendations to the VISN and facility managers.