Inspection of VA Regional Office, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Overall, VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) benefits inspectors determined Winston-Salem VA Regional Office (VARO) claims processing staff incorrectly processed 15 of the 90 (17 percent) disability claims selected for review. The claims processing errors resulted in approximately $179,000 in improper benefits payments from May 2008 until November 2014. The OIG benefits inspectors sample disability claims considered at increased risk of processing errors so inspection results do not represent the accuracy of all disability claims processed at the Winston-Salem VARO. OIG staff found VARO staff incorrectly processed 9 of 30 claims related to temporary 100 percent disability evaluations but processed 29 of the 30 traumatic brain injury claims correctly. Results in these two areas suggest improvement since the VARO was last inspected in 2012. However, OIG reported 5 of the 30 sample cases relating to Special Monthly Compensation and ancillary benefits contained errors. Winston-Salem VARO staff followed policy and accurately established claims in an electronic system of records using correct dates of claims for the 30 claims sampled. Inspectors also determined VARO staff delayed or incorrectly processed 14 of the 30 benefits reduction cases which resulted in over $139,000 in improper benefit payments from August 2012 until November 2014. The improper payments resulted from delays in taking actions to reduce the benefits because VARO management considered other work to be a higher priority. The Director of the Winston-Salem VARO did not respond to all recommendations but indicated concurrence with three of the four recommendations OIG made for improvement. However, OIG also indicated the planned corrective actions lacked the urgency expected to minimize improper benefits payments.