VA Health Care: Alcoholism Screening Procedures Should Be Improved
HRD-91-71
Published: Mar 27, 1991. Publicly Released: Apr 18, 1991.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO: (1) reviewed how Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) physicians detected alcohol use problems in veterans who applied for health care at VA medical centers; and (2) compared the number of veterans at five VA medical centers who potentially needed alcohol use treatment to the number of veterans receiving treatment at those centers.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should require, as a part of the VA preventive medicine program, that each medical center systematically screen veterans for potential alcohol use problems when they apply for health care services. |
VA concurred with the recommendation and stated that the importance of alcoholism screening will be reemphasized at all VA medical centers. Potential alcohol screening instruments were identified and pilot tested. Based on the results of these tests, alcohol screening guidance was revised in May, 1992.
|
Full Report
Public Inquiries
Topics
Substance abuse treatmentSubstance abuseDisease detection or diagnosisHealth statisticsMedical examinationsPhysiciansVeteransVeterans hospitalsHealth care centersHealth care