Inspector General: VA falsifies wait time data; Some serious cases wait more than 30 days

Told that he would be put on a waiting list after telling an intake counselor he was suicidal at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Jonathan Schulze wrapped a household extension cord around his neck, tied it to a beam in the basement, and hanged himself 4 days later.

Report: VA Distorts Record on Wait Times

The Department of Veterans Affairs repeatedly understated wait times for injured veterans seeking medical care and in many serious cases forced them to wait more than 30 days, counter to department policy, an internal investigation shows.

The review by the VA inspector general's office, released Monday, examined 700 outpatient appointments for primary and specialty care scheduled in October 2006 at 10 VA medical centers.

It found that the Veterans Health Administration in recent months falsely reported to Congress that nearly all of its appointments — about 95 percent — were scheduled within 30 days of a patient's requested date. In fact, only three in four veterans — 75 percent — received such timely appointments.

Of the veterans kept waiting more than 30 days, 27 percent of them had more serious service-connected disabilities, such as amputees and those with chronic problems including frequent panic attacks. Under VHA policy, such veterans must be scheduled for care within 30 days of their desired appointment date.

In addition, despite warnings by the IG in 2005 to more accurately report wait times, department officials last year also may have understated the number of veterans on their electronic waiting lists by more than 53,000.

Read the rest at the San Francisco Chronicle

VA understates patient waiting times, IG says

A report released Monday said auditors found VA was understating waiting times by excluding some patients from the count and by claiming that some appointments were late because that was when veterans wanted to be seen, although there was no evidence in the patient files to verify such a claim...

In a review of 700 appointments where VA said everyone waited 30 days or less, auditors found 25 percent had waited longer. Auditors also found inaccurate waiting lists that made it hard to determine how long people had been waiting.

Ten facilities had a combined 53,531 veterans missing from their records. Auditors discovered that 62 percent of the veterans who were not on the lists had waited more than 30 days for their appointments to be scheduled.

Read the rest at Army Times

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