OIG Reports

No. 1   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The director of Veterans Integrated Service Network 2 should ensure useful life assessments are conducted for those boilers operating past their expected or extended lifespans outlined in this report to ensure safe operation. 23

No. 2   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The director of the Office of Healthcare Engineering should clarify policies and procedures for scheduling useful life assessments of boilers prior to the end of expected lifespans and after an extension has been granted.

No. 3   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The director of the Office of Healthcare Engineering should update VHA Directive 1810 to ensure that medical facility boiler policies are updated to reflect site-specific safety device testing procedures, including justifications for each test prescribed in the VHA Boiler and Associated Plant Safety Device Testing Manual that the medical facility does not plan to perform.

No. 4   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The director of the Office of Healthcare Engineering should update VHA Directive 1810 to clarify which tests and inspections require the use of third-party inspectors, as well as the frequency of these tests and inspections.

No. 5   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The director of Veterans Integrated Service Network 2 should review medical facilities’ boiler operation policies to ensure procedures for notifying management and documenting corrective action plans and timelines for addressing safety incidents are consistent with VHA Directive 1810 requirements.

No. 6   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The director of Veterans Integrated Service Network 2 should employ a management information system to ensure all individuals with oversight responsibility are granted access to records for boiler maintenance deficiencies and corresponding corrective actions, boiler inventory, testing and inspection compliance, and useful life assessment completeness.

No. 1   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The Under Secretary for Health, in conjunction with Veterans Integrated Service Network directors and facility senior leaders, ensures medical facility directors make certain that a written policy is in place and implemented for the safe, appropriate, orderly, and timely transfer of patients.

No. 2   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The Under Secretary for Health, in conjunction with Veterans Integrated Service Network directors and facility senior leaders, ensures chiefs of staff and associate directors of patient care services monitor and evaluate all transfers as part of Veterans Health Administration’s Quality Management Program.

No. 3   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The Under Secretary for Health, in conjunction with Veterans Integrated Service Network directors and facility senior leaders, makes certain chiefs of staff ensure that transferring providers send patients’ active medication lists and copies of advance directives to receiving facilities during inter-facility transfers.

No. 4   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The Under Secretary for Health, in conjunction with Veterans Integrated Service Network directors and facility senior leaders, makes certain chiefs of staff and associate directors of patient care services ensure nurse-to-nurse communication occurs during the inter-facility transfer process.

No. 1   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks Facility Director ensures that Office of Community Care staff take action on active consults within seven days and schedule community care appointments within the 30-day clinically indicated date requirement and monitors compliance.

No. 2   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks Facility Director evaluates the process for authorization of requests for community care and for coordinating care for patients receiving oncology treatment in the community, and takes corrective action to address any deficiencies identified.

No. 3   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The Under Secretary of Health ensures the Veterans Health Administration Office of Community Care defines a standardized process for community care coordination related to follow-up requests for additional services from community providers.

No. 1   to Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

Implement electronic system enhancements to require claims processors to identify relevant evidence before a medical opinion request can be submitted.

No. 2   to Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

Enhance mandated training for all claims processors on making medical opinion requests and demonstrate progress showing that the training is achieving its intended impact.

No. 3   to Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

Strengthen monitoring controls by improving the national and local quality review processes to identify medical opinion request areas in need of improvement and demonstrate progress toward ensuring compliance with established procedures.

No. 1   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Ensure that healthcare system finance office staff are made aware of policy requirements and that reviews are conducted on all inactive open obligations as required by VA Financial Policy, vol. 2, chap. 5, “Obligations Policy.”

No. 2   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Require the finance office to perform quarterly compliance reviews of pharmacy invoice reconciliations.

No. 3   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Develop a plan to work with the prime vendor to address having adequate stock to meet orders, reducing the need for the healthcare system to use nonprime vendors.

No. 4   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Ensure the healthcare system submits Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor–Next Generation waiver requests and obtains approval before purchasing available formulary items from nonprime vendor sources.

No. 5   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Ensure logistics staff and the contracting officer’s representative use the tools available to inform the Medical Supplies Program Office and Strategic Acquisition Center of prime vendor performance concerns and challenges.

No. 6   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Develop formalized processes for monitoring and achieving identified efficiency targets and use available pharmacy data to make business decisions.

No. 7   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Develop and implement a plan to increase inventory turnover to the Veterans Health Administration‑recommended level.

No. 8   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Develop and implement a plan to complete facility-based inventory audits of noncontrolled drug line items in compliance with Veterans Health Administration policy.

No. 1   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The Under Secretary for Health, in conjunction with Veterans Integrated Service Network directors and facility senior leaders, ensures healthcare providers inform patients and/or caregivers when a medication is not FDA-approved; provide the option to refuse the medication; and advise them of the known risks, benefits, and alternatives prior to administration.

No. 1   to Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

Centralize all Camp Lejeune-related claims processing at the Louisville VA Regional Office, or implement a plan and report progress mitigating the error rate disparity between the Louisville Regional Office and other regional offices.

No. 2   to Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

Conduct and report to the Office of Inspector General the results of targeted quality reviews of Camp Lejeune-related claims from all regional offices processing these claims until the accuracy rate meets or exceeds the Veterans Benefits Administration’s overall national accuracy goal for disability compensation claims.

No. 1   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director confirms that a process is in place to ensure community living center staff have knowledge of policies pertaining to nursing practice and documentation in the community living center.

No. 2   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director ensures all nursing staff assigned to the community living center have received training on the completion and documentation of all required elements for pain assessments.

No. 3   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director verifies that community living center nursing staff demonstrate knowledge of the procedure for managing verbal and telephone orders and monitors compliance.

No. 4   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director reviews the Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System hand-off communication policy to determine if changes are warranted to address the procedure for managing hand-offs, ensures understanding of policy by staff, and monitors compliance.

No. 5   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director verifies that community living center staff are aware of events warranting submission of a Joint Patient Safety Report and how to submit one.

No. 6   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director evaluates the circumstances surrounding the death of the resident and determines if peer reviews of relevant clinical staff are warranted.

No. 7   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director ensures that community living center managers receive training on the types of reviews, including quality assurance and administrative investigations and when each is appropriate for use, and documents attendance.

No. 8   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director ensures that actions identified in the Corrective Action Plan are tracked to completion.

No. 9   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director confirms that an institutional disclosure is completed and documented to share that an “opportunity for intervention(transfer to the Emergency Department) existed and was considered but not acted on, prior to the terminal event.

No. 10   to Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

The VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System Director directs community living center leaders to review policy and admission processes to ensure respiratory therapy equipment needed in the care of a resident is in place at the time of admission.