Some facilities have struggled to retrieve and process records from community providers. Image: Jennifer Vinciguerra/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe VA is inconsistent in tracking whether veterans are receiving the care they are supposed to be getting from outside providers under its Community Care program, an inspector general audit has said.
Under that program, staff in a Veterans Health Administration facility can help a veteran schedule medical appointments with providers in the community under certain circumstances, including if the VHA facility does not provide the requested services. After the care occurs, those providers are to send any associated medical records to the facility, which is then to import them into the VA’s electronic health records system. If the providers do not send the records, VA staff are to follow a process for requesting them.
Said the IG after reviewing that process over a six-month period, “Some facilities received nearly all community care medical records. Others struggled to retrieve records from community providers. Staff said competing priorities reduced the amount of time available to request and process incoming records.”
“Once records were received, community care staff did not always use the Consult Toolbox to document the receipt, and the administrative closure policy was both unclear and inconsistently used,” it added. Further, facilities varied in meeting time metrics because “some implemented tools to improve the timeliness of processing records and others faced technological barriers.”
It said the VA agreed with recommendations directed toward improving the reporting by providers, evaluating the workload of community care staff, increasing use of providers’ electronic records portals, and more.
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