Barriers to VA Managed Care

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) administrative efforts to address barriers to managed care. GAO noted that: (1) VA planned and ongoing efforts to overcome barriers to managed care include establishing primary care teams, comparing VA quality of care standards with other external standards, identifying projects to upgrade VA facilities, and implementing a new resource allocation system; (2) VA plans do not address some barriers, specify what actions will be taken, or indicate when actions will be completed; and (3) governmentwide reform efforts are underway to overcome the barriers to managed care and improve federal procurement practices, personnel management, customer service, and service contracting.