Veterans Affairs researchers have found that LGBT veterans may experience higher rates of depression and more frequent thoughts of suicide. Yet the VA can't systematically analyze the health of these veterans because it doesn't consistently collect data on sexual orientation or self-identified gender identity. For example, according to the VA, 89% of veterans' records lack gender identity data. Wi...

The Department of Veterans Affairs intends the Medical Surgical Prime Vendor program to be the primary supply source for its 170 medical centers. But only 11% of centers met the VA's target for using the program. The VA plans to revamp the program to fix some problems—like delivery delays and limited supply selection—but that has been delayed. The VA is piloting a similar DOD medical supply pr...

Most veterans seeking Department of Veterans Affairs medical services use its 170 medical centers or over 1,000 outpatient facilities. Veterans may also use community care—services from non-VA providers—in some cases, such as when they face long waits or drive times to VA facilities. Congress expanded access to community care beginning in June 2019. The VA estimates community care will cost $2...

The Department of Veterans Affairs implemented the Veterans Community Care Program in June 2019—replacing similar programs that allow eligible veterans to receive care from non-VA providers. We reviewed how the VA implemented the new program and found: The VA hasn't established a timeliness goal for veteran careFew community providers use the VA's new software system to exchange information elec...

The Department of Veterans Affairs operates 300 Vet Centers throughout the U.S. that provide counseling services to military veterans and their families. The agency has changed how it assesses Vet Center counselors' productivity and its expectations for the number of clients that the counselors see each week. But the VA hasnÂ’t evaluated how these new expectations may affect veteran care or...

Preventing veteran suicide is the Department of Veterans Affairs' highest clinical priority. The VA started tracking suicide deaths on VA campuses—medical facilities, parking areas, and cemeteries—in October 2017 and identified 55 on-campus veteran suicides through September 2019. We reviewed the VA's data and found errors: 4 missing cases that should've been counted and 10 cases that shouldnÃ...

Ensuring quality care at nursing homes has become even more critical with the emergence of COVID-19. The Department of Veterans Affairs provided nursing home care for over 39,000 veterans in 2019. More than half received care at homes that states own and operate. The VA pays a contractor to inspect these homes. We testified about our June 2019 findings on state home inspections. We made 3 recommen...

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Graduate Medical Education program trains more than 45,000 medical and dental residents annually. It reimbursed affiliated medical schools and teaching hospitals about $765 million in 2019—covering residents’ salaries for their work at VA facilities. After detecting payment errors at one facility, VA added a new oversight process meant to complement an ex...

The Department of Veterans Affairs is replacing its outdated electronic health record system with a commercial system to better support patient care. VA held several workshops to allow stakeholders—clinicians, staff, and other experts—to weigh in on the configuration of the new software that will help it deliver care and administer medication. While VA made its configuration decisions on time...

In January 2017, then President-elect Trump stated that he and the VA would consult private citizens to help address VA’s issues related to managing and overseeing its operations. This has raised questions about the influence of these citizens on VA’s decisions. We found that the interactions between VA officials and private citizens took place between 2016 and 2018. Our analysis showed that...