Audit · Department of Veterans Affairs OIG · 2022-01-19 · about Department of Veterans Affairs
Report
Title
Audit of Community Care Consults during COVID-19
Submitting OIG
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Component agency
Department of Veterans Affairs
Type
Audit
Publication date
2022-01-19
Summary
During COVID-19, VHA’s Office of Community Care (OCC) took steps to ensure veterans continued to have expanded access to health care in the community, as required by the VA MISSION Act of 2018. OCC issued policies to VA facilities to postpone nonurgent appointments and offer alternatives to in-person care, such as telehealth.
Recommendations (3)
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Status
Text
1
Closed
Develop guidelines requiring supervisors to use VHA systems to monitor documentation of efforts to contact patients to schedule an appointment and to take corrective action as appropriate.
2
Closed
Establish a tool to monitor whether clinicians are properly indicating the appropriateness of alternative forms of care and whether staff offered them to patients when clinically appropriate.
3
Closed
Reassess the frequency of and approach to its training for scheduling community care consults to VHA facilities as revisions are made to the various tools.