Reports
Search reports, investigative results, and agency plansShowing 51 - 60 of 60 results
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Date of Receipt of Claims and Mail Processing During the COVID-19 National State of Emergency
The OIG reviewed the Veterans Benefits Administration’s (VBA) processing of mail and benefit claims during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the review team examined whether VBA staff documented the date of receipt for benefits-related correspondence as required by new guidance during the national state of emergency and continued mail operations at VA facilities to ensure benefit claims were processed. Based on its sample analysis, the OIG found VBA staff did not properly apply date of receipt documentation guidance for an estimated 98 percent of 3,200 claims established from April 7...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Appointment Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) took measures to protect patients and employees from COVID-19 by canceling face-to-face appointments that were not urgent and converting some of them to virtual appointments. The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) assessed VHA’s appointment management strategies and the status of canceled appointments. The review team found that about five million appointments (68 percent) canceled from March 15 through May 1, 2020, had evidence of follow up or other tracking. Patients completed appointments predominantly by telephone and some by video. Other...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Alleged Deficiencies in the Management of Staff Exposure to a Patient with COVID-19 at the VA Portland Health Care System in Oregon
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection to determine the validity of allegations related to the management of staff exposure to a patient diagnosed with COVID-19 at the VA Portland Medical Center (facility) in Oregon. The events under review involved the facility’s first patient diagnosed with COVID-19. The OIG did not substantiate that emergency department staff failed to notify imaging department staff that a patient was suspected to have COVID-19 before sending the patient to the imaging department. At the time of the patient’s transport to the imaging...
U.S. Agency for International Development OIG
Lead Inspector General (Lead IG) quarterly report to the U.S. Congress on the East Africa Counterterrorism Operation and the North and West Africa Counterterrorism Operation
This quarterly report describes the activities of the U.S. Government in support of the East Africa Counterterrorism Operation and the North and West Africa Counterterrorism Operation, as well as the work of the Department of Defense, the Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development to promote the U.S. Government’s policy goals in Africa, during the period January 1 through March 31, 2020. The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was an emerging challenge to U.S. Government counterterrorism and counter-VEO efforts during the quarter. Many DoS and USAID staff...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Review of Veterans Health Administration’s COVID-19 Response and Continued Pandemic Readiness
On March 26, 2020, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) published its first COVID-19-focused report, OIG Inspection of Veterans Health Administration’s COVID-19 Screening and Pandemic Readiness. In that report, the OIG evaluated how the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was preparing facilities to meet anticipated rising demands. This report outlines VHA’s continued response to the pandemic and provides VHA leaders’ descriptions of the evolving challenges they faced in caring for veterans and potentially nonveteran patients as well. The OIG engaged leaders from 70 selected facilities in...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Review of Highly Rural Community-Based Outpatient Clinics Limited Access to Select Specialty Care
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed the accessibility of dermatology, orthopedics, and urology specialty care for patients in the 17 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) classified as highly rural. The OIG also reviewed accessibility, barriers, and the availability and utilization of resources for the time frame March 1, 2018 (or from the date the CBOC became highly rural), through February 28, 2019. VHA utilized clinical consults, electronic consults (eConsults), telehealth, and community care to provide specialty care at the highly...
U.S. Agency for International Development OIG
USAID Top Pandemic Challenges Report
In June 2020, USAID OIG contributed to a report compiled by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee that identified multiple agencies’ top challenges in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. USAID OIG’s contribution is found here.
U.S. Agency for International Development OIG
Key Questions to Inform USAID's COVID-19 Response
This advisory notice poses key questions from past lessons learned for USAID to consider while planning and executing its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lessons learned and corresponding questions fall under four broad areas, which mirror the top management challenges we report annually to USAID: (1) managing risks to humanitarian assistance amid a public health emergency of international concern; (2) maintaining responsibilities for planning, monitoring, and sustaining U.S.-funded development; (3) maximizing stakeholder coordination for a global COVID-19 response; and (4) addressing...
U.S. Agency for International Development OIG
Key Questions to Inform USAID's COVID-19 Response
This advisory notice poses key questions from past lessons learned for USAID to consider while planning and executing its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lessons learned and corresponding questions fall under four broad areas, which mirror the top management challenges we report annually to USAID: (1) managing risks to humanitarian assistance amid a public health emergency of international concern; (2) maintaining responsibilities for planning, monitoring, and sustaining U.S.-funded development; (3) maximizing stakeholder coordination for a global COVID-19 response; and (4) addressing...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
OIG Inspection of Veterans Health Administration’s COVID-19 Screening Processes and Pandemic Readiness
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an inspection to evaluate novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) screening processes at 237 VA facilities (medical centers, community-based outpatient clinics, and community living centers) and to collect data on pandemic preparations. Screening processes at 71 percent of visited medical centers were adequate, while 28 percent had opportunities for improvement. The vast majority of community-based outpatient clinics had screening procedures in place. Although VA announced a no visitors policy for community living centers on March 10, 2020, OIG...