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Department of Veterans Affairs OIG

Review of Veterans Health Administration’s Emergency Department and Urgent Care Center Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a review of the Veterans Health Administration’s response to anticipated demand and use of emergency department and urgent care center services when faced with the possibility of an influx of patients needing evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was deployed and 63 emergency department and urgent care center directors were interviewed. The OIG learned there was a decreased number of patient visits to the emergency departments (19.8 percent decline) and to the urgent care centers (28.6 percent decline) for January–June 2020 when...
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

Controls over Coronavirus Response Funding

Evaluate controls implemented by the IRS to ensure the $765.7 million in appropriated funds received for its Coronavirus response is adequately tracked and used for its intended purpose. 

Department of Veterans Affairs OIG

Enhanced Strategy Needed to Reduce Disability Exam Inventory Due to the Pandemic and Errors Related to Canceled Exams

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected how the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides disability benefits to veterans. On April 3, 2020, VBA discontinued all in-person disability exams that help determine the severity of medical conditions and the amount of benefits paid. The OIG conducted this review to assess how VBA scheduled and conducted exams during the pandemic to limit veterans’ exposure, minimize processing delays, and ensure claims were not prematurely denied due to missed or canceled in-person exams. The OIG also evaluated VBA’s strategy for addressing the inventory of delayed...
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

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...
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

Telework in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (Interim Report)

The objective of the evaluation is to determine whether the IRS effectively used its telework program to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on IRS operations.

Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on IRS Customer Service Operations

Assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on IRS customer service operations and evaluate the development of the IRS’s comprehensive customer service strategy. 

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...