Review of Alleged Patient Scheduling Issues at the VA Medical Center in Tampa, FL

OIG determined the merits of allegations received in December 2014 about the Veterans Choice Program (VCP) at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital (JAHVH). OIG substantiated the allegation that JAHVH staff did not always cancel the VA appointment when a VCP appointment was made. OIG examined 56 records of veterans who completed a VCP appointment and found that for 12 of the veterans (21 percent), staff did not cancel the veterans’ corresponding VA appointment. This occurred because Non VA Care Coordination staff did not receive prompt notification from the contractor, Health Net, when a veteran scheduled a VCP appointment and no longer needed the VA appointment. OIG also substantiated that prior to May 2015, the Performance Improvement (PI) supervisor did not notify schedulers of errors identified during scheduling audits. The PI supervisor stated that the PI team corrected the errors and notifying schedulers was not his priority. In addition, the OIG substantiated that JAHVH did not add all eligible veterans to the VCL when their scheduled appointment was greater than 30 days from their preferred date, and that staff inappropriately removed veterans from the VCL. This occurred because JAHVH schedulers thought they were appropriately removing the veteran from the Electronic Wait List, when they were actually removing the veteran from the VCL. OIG recommended the Director of the JAHVH ensure the facility receives prompt notification of scheduled VCP appointments and determine if the contractor complies with the requirements. OIG also recommended the Director ensure appropriate staff receive scheduling audit results and PI staff verify correction of errors, and staff receive training regarding management of the VCL. The Director of the JAHVH concurred with the OIG’s report and recommendations. Based on actions already implemented, OIG considered four of the recommendations closed, and will follow up on the implementation of the one remaining recommendation.