The process for the deception was actually outlined on the bottom of page #4 of the interim OIG report. The VA facilities, and in many cases the VA regional offices, were keeping two sets of treatment records. One set was what they were using – the second set was what they were reporting to VA in Washington.
To pull off the deception the “audit trail” function on the computer software was disabled. Meaning, there was no way to identify who was manipulating the records and when.
The only way to fix this is to fire all the administrators, fire the top and mid-level managers, fire the auditors and compliance officers, and then deconstruct the SEIU and AFSCME union stranglehold within the VA.
Yeah, good luck with that…
WASHINGTON DC – Appointments’ wait times were manipulated at more than 60 percent of the Department of Veterans Affairs health facilities investigated as part of a new internal audit.
The White House-ordered audit found that schedulers faced pressure to manipulate the system and concluded there was a “systemic lack of integrity within some Veterans Health Administration facilities.”
The audit, issued as VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned Friday, found that 64 percent of the 216 VA facilities reviewed had at least one instance where a veterans’ desired appointment date had been changed.
The review found 13 percent of schedulers had received specific instructions to misrepresent wait times.
“Information indicates that in some cases, pressures were placed on schedulers to utilize inappropriate practices in order to make waiting times appear more favorable,” the audit said.
The review also found that 7 percent to 8 percent of scheduling staff said they used alternatives to the VA’s electronic wait list, a practice that occurred in 62 percent of the facilities examined.
The VA’s internal audit follows the VA inspector general’s interim report released on Wednesday, which found “that inappropriate scheduling practices are a systemic problem nationwide.”
The IG report spurred a flurry of calls for Shinseki’s resignation from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and Shinseki stepped down Friday.
President Barack Obama said Friday that Shinseki and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors shared with him the audit’s findings before Shinseki offered his resignation. (read more)
