VA Health Care: Modernizing VA's Mail-Service Pharmacies Should Save Millions of Dollars
HRD-92-30
Published: Jan 22, 1992. Publicly Released: Jan 22, 1992.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) mail-service pharmacies, focusing on: (1) whether VA pharmacies efficiently and economically fill veterans' prescriptions; and (2) ways that VA could improve its mail pharmaceutical services.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct the Chief Medical Director to require pharmacies to maximize the use of 90-day supplies when dispensing maintenance drugs, which are prescribed at a stabilized dose. |
VA reports that 164 of 167 facilities have either implemented multi-month dispensing or have approved it for implementation. As a result, VA dispensed 15.7 million fewer prescriptions in fiscal year 1995 and 9.4 million in 1994. VA expects to dispense about 20 million fewer prescriptions in fiscal year 1996.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should require the Chief Medical Director to ensure that VA plans for consolidating and automating mail-service pharmacies determine the optimal work load for the pharmacies by using work-load data that assume maximum use of 90-day supplies. |
VHA has been directed to determine pharmacy dispensing capacity assuming maximum use of 90-day quantities. VHA plans to do this as part of an FY 1994 evaluation of the expansion of the automated Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacies.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should require the Chief Medical Director to ensure that VA plans for consolidating and automating mail-service pharmacies include steps for selecting the most cost-efficient locations for the facilities, considering such factors as available transportation and personnel. |
VA has four consolidated mail-service pharmacies in operation, another one about to begin operation, and 2 more planned. When completed, VA will have a total of 7 facilities.
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| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should require the Chief Medical Director to ensure that VA plans for consolidating and automating mail-service pharmacies ensure compatibility of prescription handling and automatic data processing equipment throughout VA facilities to maximize efficiency. |
VA plans for a CMOP program include equipment compatibility from site to site and use of automated data processing equipment nationwide. Software has been developed, tested, and distributed to the medical centers. However, not all medical centers have the capability to use the software. VA expects that all medical centers will be online by January 1998.
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