VA Health Care: Inadequate Controls Over Scarce Medical Specialist Contracts

GAO discussed the status of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) efforts to strengthen its management controls over contracts for medical specialists. GAO noted that: (1) VA still lacks management controls to ensure that medical centers are avoiding contracting problems; (2) VA needs to provide better staffing guidelines for medical centers and utilize reviewers to develop and evaluate contract proposals; (3) few VA centers provide adequate support and data required for the use of contract specialists and contract review; and (4) VA fails to provide follow-up procedures to ensure that required contract modifications are completed.