Inspection of the VA Regional Office Boston, Massachusetts

We evaluated the Boston VA Regional Office (VARO) to see how well its staff processes disability claims and provides a range of services to veterans. We also interviewed VARO staff to gain a better understanding of how a VARO implemented Fast Letter 13-10 “Guidance on Date of Claims Issues.” Overall, VARO staff did not accurately process 21 (23 percent) of 90 disability claims we reviewed. We sampled claims we considered at increased risk of processing errors, thus these results do not represent the overall accuracy of disability claims processing at this VARO. For the disability claims and processing actions reviewed: (1) Ten of 30 temporary 100 percent evaluations were inaccurate, primarily because staff did not take timely action on reminders for medical reexaminations. In contrast, in February 2011 we reported errors in 25 of 30 cases, mainly due to staff not taking action to input suspense diaries in the electronic record. (2) Five of 30 traumatic brain injury (TBI) claims were inaccurate, primarily because oversight was lacking to ensure staff complied with VBA’s second-signature policy. This area improved since our February 2011 report where 11 of 30 TBI cases had errors due to a lack of training. (3) Six of 30 special monthly compensation and ancillary claims were inaccurate due to insufficient refresher training. (4) Lacking authority to deviate from VBA’s policy requiring Systematic Analysis of Operations (SAO), the Director suspended SAOs in 2013 due to VBA’s emphasis on production requirements. (5) Staff delayed completing 6 of 30 benefits reductions cases because management prioritized other work higher. While conducting research related to the implementation of Fast Letter 13-10, we determined one Boston VARO employee misapplied the guidance by adjusting the dates of claims that were 2 weeks or older. The employee indicated the 2-week standard was his own interpretation and not provided by management. The Boston VARO Director needs to implement plans to ensure timely action on reminders for medical reexaminations; take appropriate action on the 189 temporary 100 percent disability evaluations remaining from our inspection universe; ensure secondary reviews and conduct training on processing TBI and special monthly compensation claims; improve management of SAOs; and prioritize actions related to benefit reduction cases. The Director of the Boston VARO concurred with all recommendations. Management’s planned actions are responsive and we will follow up as required.