Reports
Search for reports and investigative results.
Showing 1 - 10 of 16 results
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Review of Personnel Shortages in Federal Health Care Programs During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic put an unprecedented strain on the nation’s federal healthcare systems. The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) Health Care Subgroup surveyed more than 300 facilities across four federal healthcare programs to determine if the facilities had sufficient medical staff during the pandemic. The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed staffing at Veterans Health Administration facilities, the Department of Justice OIG reviewed Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities, the Department of Defense OIG reviewed medical treatment facilities, and the Health and Human...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Review of Veterans Health Administration’s Virtual Primary Care Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a review to assess Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) virtual primary care response to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the use of virtual care by primary care providers and their perceptions of VA Video Connect (VVC) between February 7 and June 16, 2020.The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges to health care delivery worldwide. One strategy initiated by VHA, in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to social distance, included expanding the delivery of primary care via virtual care...
National Reconnaissance Office OIG
Evaluation of the National Reconnaissance Office’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) OIG conducted this evaluation to identify any best practices implemented or challenges encountered by NRO Headquarters and selected field sites in responding to the pandemic. Areas of evaluation contained in this report include mission sustainment, policy, leadership, facilities and logistics, health and safety, communications, and human resources. This report is fundamentally informational and contains perspectives and opinions of NRO’s leadership and workforce.
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
Insights on Telehealth Use and Program Integrity Risks Across Selected Health Care Programs During the Pandemic
The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee’s (PRAC) Health Care Subgroup developed this report to share insights about the expansion—and the emerging risks—of telehealth in selected programs across six federal agencies during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The selected programs, which provided telehealth services to about 37 million people in 2020 (up from just three million in 2019), included the Veterans Health Administration, Medicare, TRICARE, Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs, and Department of Justice prisoner healthcare...
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...
National Reconnaissance Office OIG
Evaluation of the National Reconnaissance Office's Implementation of Section 3610 Authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
On 27 March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which provided emergency assistance and healthcare response for individuals, families, and businesses affected by the Coronavirus disease. Section 3610 of the CARES Act provided agencies discretionary authority to reimburse costs of paid leave to federal contractors and subcontractors using existing appropriations to keep these individuals in a ready state and to protect the life and safety of government and contractor personnel. Given the unprecedented circumstances surrounding these Section 3610...
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
Care Concerns and the Impact of COVID-19 on a Patient at the Fayetteville VA Coastal Health Care System in North Carolina
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection at the Fayetteville VA Coastal Health Care System in North Carolina to assess concerns related to the quality, coordination, and timeliness of care, and the impact of COVID-19 on a patient with unintentional weight loss who was later diagnosed with oral cancer and died at another VA medical center.The OIG substantiated that the primary care provider and dietitians did not provide quality care to the patient. The primary care provider’s failure to follow-up on an earlier finding and not place an order for a medical test...
Department of Veterans Affairs OIG
Systems and Tools Implemented to Track COVID-19 Vaccine Data
The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) examined whether the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implemented data collection and reporting systems to report on the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to VA medical facilities and doses administered to VA employees and veterans enrolled in VA’s healthcare system (approximately 9.5 million individuals). Although essential for national reporting, tracking VA vaccine data is difficult because VA does not have a centralized national pharmacy inventory management system to track vaccine supply at facilities.Although VHA staff swiftly developed data...