All 56 VA facilities visited by auditors had established quality management programs and performed ongoing reviews and analyses of mandatory areas, according to an IG report.
VA has required its health care facilities since the early 1970s to operate comprehensive quality management programs to monitor the quality of care provided to patients and to ensure compliance with VA directives and accreditation standards.
In the review, “Facility senior managers reported that they supported their QM programs and actively participated through being involved in committees, mentoring teams, and reviewing meeting minutes and reports,” the report said.
For example, all 56 had QM programs that had established one or more committees with responsibility for QM and had chartered teams that worked on performance improvement initiatives such as improving patient flow and managing missed opportunities.
The audit identified opportunities for improvement in the areas of peer review, credentialing and privileging, surgical oversight, and safe patient handling.
