The Veterans Health Administration lacks information about the mobile medical units it deploys and has not collected sufficient data to determine whether they have improved health care access to rural veterans, the VA inspector general has found.
It said the agency lacks information on the number, locations, purpose, patient workloads, and MMU operating costs.
The VHA operated at least 47 MMUs in fiscal 2013, 19 of them funded by the Office of Rural Health and the rest funded by either a Veterans Integrated Service Network or medical facility, according to the IG.
It said medical facilities captured utilization and cost data in VHA’s Decision Support System for only six of the estimated 47 MMUs.
Further, it said that because the VHA did not designate specific program responsibility for MMU management, define a clear purpose for its MMUs, or establish policies and guidance for effective and efficient MMU operations, the agency was unable to demonstrate whether the almost $29 million ORH spent, as well as unknown medical facility funding for MMUs, increased rural veterans’ health care access (or the extent to which the MMUs support emergency preparedness).
