Reasons for exclusion include healthcare fraud, patient abuse, and controlled substance violations. Image: Jennifer Vinciguerra/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffAn inspector general audit has recommended that the VA tighten scrutiny of job candidates under a law and the department’s own policies that limit who is eligible to work in health care-related jobs in its Veterans Health Administration.
Among reasons for exclusion, a report said, are committing healthcare fraud, patient abuse, controlled substance violations, or acts subject to license revocation, among other misconduct.
Auditors conducted a data match and found four persons who were formerly nursing professionals working at the VHA, although not in health care-related positions. It said that even though that was the case and the number was small, “a series of process failures led to these four violations that warrant VHA leaders’ attention.”
Those included matching only current names, and not former names, against an HHS database of excluded persons, an error in a computer program that prevented it from recognizing matches, and human error including a mistaken belief that issues related to a match would be resolved later in the background check process.
The report said the computer error has been corrected but that its other recommendations remain open, including that the VA “conduct a comprehensive one-time audit of its employees” to match their Social Security numbers against the database of excluded persons.
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