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By: FEDweek StaffTwo inspector general audits have criticized aspects of the VA’s management of prescription drugs, saying the department is failing to achieve potential savings in a program on which it spends $6.6 billion a year.
One focused on a program in which the VA can get credits for drugs it cannot use because they are damaged or expired. The report found that management of the program is highly divided, with three offices involved at the national level and responsibility at the local level further split among contracting and pharmacy chiefs.
It said that the VA “did not always secure and track drugs held for return credit, or complete required analyses to maximize return credits and identify areas for improvement” and needs “to do more to ensure that the terms of the contract were met.” It said that the department’s planned steps are responsive to its recommendations.
In the other report, the IG said the department is “at increased risk for not receiving all drug return credits due” from the program because officials “did not always effectively monitor or review” final invoices on credits for returned drugs. Also, a lack of national-level data on the program hampers the VA’s “ability to maximize potential drug return credits and minimize the risk of lost credits.”
The IG noted that the current provider will continue to process returns through at least next April even though the contract expired last October. “This risk will persist for any future drug return contract(s)—whether awarded nationally or locally—if the reimbursement structure remains the same,” it said.
That report was in the nature of a management advisory which asked management to describe action it intends to take in response.
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