Reports
Search reports, investigative results, and agency plansShowing 31 - 38 of 38 results
Department of Health & Human Services OIG
Opioid Treatment Programs Reported Challenges Encountered During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Actions Taken To Address Them
Department of Health & Human Services OIG
Medicaid and ACA Enrollment Processes during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Economic and health impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have left States facing increases in new applications for health insurance through the Medicaid and ACA Marketplace programs. Responding to the pandemic, including meeting the new enrollment and oversight demands, has taxed State health care systems. This evaluation will assess efforts by the States and CMS to effectively enroll residents impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Medicaid and ACA Marketplace plans. By identifying effective practices or any breakdowns in enrollment and oversight systems, this review would help improve the efficiency of State health insurance enrollment processes under both emergency and more typical conditions.
Department of Health & Human Services OIG
Office of Refugee Resettlement Ensured That Selected Care Providers Were Prepared to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Veterans Crisis Line Challenges, Contingency Plans, and Successes During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) operations ranging from contingency planning to quality metrics and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. The OIG completed remote interviews, document reviews, and surveyed VCL employees and Suicide Prevention staff. VCL staff had historically worked from communal call centers with shared space and equipment, a model that posed a safety risk to staff during the pandemic. To continue operations, VCL’s primary challenge was to equip and transition nearly 800 employees to telework-based operations. Over the course...
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
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 Health & Human Services OIG
Hospital Experiences Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a National Pulse Survey March 23-27, 2020
This review provides the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and other decision-makers (e.g., State and local officials and other Federal agencies) with a national snapshot of hospitals' challenges and needs in responding to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This is not a review of HHS response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have collected this information as an aid for HHS as it continues to lead efforts to address the public health emergency and support hospitals and other first responders. In addition, hospitals may find the information about each other's strategies useful...
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...