Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Monday, 10 July 2017 "Healthcare Inspection—Clinical Activities, Staffing, and Administrative Practices, Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System, Muskogee, Oklahoma"

Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Monday, 10 July 2017 "Healthcare Inspection—Clinical Activities, Staffing, and Administrative Practices, Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System, Muskogee, Oklahoma"

Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG). Healthcare Inspection—Clinical Activities, Staffing, and Administrative Practices, Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System, Muskogee, Oklahoma OIG conducted a healthcare inspection in response to Senator James Inhofe’s request to evaluate a range of clinical, staffing, and administrative practices at the Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System (System), Muskogee OK. We evaluated nine areas and practices. Several of the System’s key leadership positions have been in flux in the past few years. The current System Director entered on duty June 12, 2016. We could not determine the impact of leadership vacancies and short-term coverage; however, we noted a decline in multiple quality measures from fiscal year (FY) 2015 to FY 2016. We found the System did not consistently provide the necessary monitoring and oversight to ensure that selected patient care processes were safe and effective. Deficient processes included provider-specific privileging, peer review, and institutional disclosure. The System had difficulty recruiting and retaining employees. The System used tele-medicine and contracted services to meet patient care needs when in-house specialty care was not readily available. The System largely met access metrics for primary care and mental health (MH); however, about 30 percent of new patient specialty care (SC) appointments were pending greater than 30 days as of Q2 FY 2016. The System did not meet call center performance targets as of Q1 FY 2016. The System has not consistently met Care in the Community (CIC) timeliness goals. We found that clinical providers consistently documented patients’ relevant histories and presenting problems, treatment plans, follow-up, and medication reconciliation; however, improved documentation of abnormal lab test notification and follow-up was needed. The System also needed to improve its ranking in the MH Domain (performance) measure. We found that the Emergency Department (ED) was generally meeting performance targets. We inspected patient care areas at the Muskogee main healthcare facility and three community based outpatient clinics. We identified compliance deficiencies related to oversight committee minutes and selected privacy, safety, security, and cleanliness requirements. We made 19 recommendations focusing on leadership stability and performance improvement activities; the meeting minutes of Quality, Safety, and Value subordinate committees, clinical privileging, severity assessment code scoring, peer review activities, institutional disclosure; recruitment and hiring; SC and MH access, and call center responsiveness; follow-up of CIC improvement actions; notification and follow-up of abnormal lab results, consult completion timeliness, and MH-related quality measure improvements; ED discharges; and environment of care-related compliance and improvements. Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG). Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) 801 I Street North West Washington, D.C. 20536, United States 800-827-1000

-------
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C., United States for Monday, 10 july 2017 'Monthly Training Allowance for Disabled Veterans in Paralympic and Olympic Sports (VMAA) Standards Updated"

Monthly Training Allowance for Disabled Veterans in Paralympic and Olympic Sports (VMAA) Standards Updated

Monthly Training Allowance for Disabled Veterans in Paralympic and Olympic Sports (VMAA) Standards Updated The.Monthly Training Allowance for Disabled Veterans in Paralympic and Olympic Sports (VMAA) Standards have been updated and is available under the Allowances tab on the VA Adaptive Sports Program webpage at: https://www.va.gov/adaptivesports/. There are three main areas of changes in the updated VMAA Standards: 1.  As authorized in September 2016 by Public Law 114-223, Sec. 249, a Veteran with a service-connected disability rated as 30 percent or greater by the Department of Veterans Affairs who is selected by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) for the United States Olympic Team for any month in which the Veteran is competing in any event sanctioned by the National Governing Bodies of the USOC is eligible for the VMAA.  Veterans who compete for the USOC equivalents in the U.S. Commonwealths and Territories are also eligible.  Eligibility for Olympic sports is covered in the first page of the VMAA.  There are no authorized developmental standards for Olympic sports, as established by the law. 2. On page 10, Power Soccer has been added to authorized Paralympic sports.  Due to the periodic nature of the national Power Soccer program, the VMAA Standards are only available during the year prior to the Power Soccer World Cup. 3. Adjustments to existing standards have been updated.  Several of the Standards for Paralympic sports have been adjusted; see individual Paralympic sports for current standards.  For recertification, the requirement to achieve VMAA Standards within a 12-month period to remain current has been clarified on page 26. If you have any questions, please contact us at: vacoadaptiveSP@va.gov Thank you. National Veterans Sports Programs & Special Events Department of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Ave. NW (10P4RN) Washington, DC 20420 Web: http://www.va.gov/adaptivesports/   Keep updated & let us know how we're doing.   Veterans Affairs. Explore VA benefits at explore.va.gov   US Department of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Avenue, NWest Washington, D.C. 20420, United States

-------

The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Monday, 10 July 2017 "Chelsea Man Pleads Guilty to Theft of VA Benefits"

Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG). Chelsea Man Pleads Guilty to Theft of VA Benefits Veteran pleads guilty to theft of VA travel reimbursement benefits. Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG). Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) 801 I Street North West Washington, D.C. 20536, United States 800-827-1000

-------
The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Monday, 10 July 2017"Former VA Nurse Re-Sentenced for Stealing and Tampering with Patient Medications"

Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG). Former VA Nurse Re-Sentenced for Stealing and Tampering with Patient Medications Former VA nurse sentenced to 38 months in prison for tampering with a consumer product and obtaining controlled substances by deception. Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG). Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) 801 I Street North West Washington, DC 20536, United States 800-827-1000 ------- The Military Health System in Washington, D.C., United States for Monday, 10 July 2017 "One size no longer fits all: MHS’ approach to individualized medicine" One size no longer fits all: MHS’ approach to individualized medicine Dr. Jonathan Woodson, former assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and member of Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Board of Regents, provided the opening remarks at the recent Precision Medicine Research Conference in Potomac, Maryland. (Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences photo) The one-size-fits-all approach to prevent and treat diseases fades as precision – or individualized – medicine moves to the forefront. This approach ensures prevention and treatment fits the patient rather than the other way around. Dr. Jonathan Woodson, the former assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and a current member of Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Board of Regents, said the Military Health System, Defense Health Agency, and the services continue to have an important role in driving readiness through this approach. “Operational readiness and medical readiness will take on new meaning and will be driven in different ways by data, digitization of health care, integration of data bases, and interdisciplinary research,” said Woodson. During the recent Precision Medicine Research Conference in Potomac, Maryland, he stressed the position of the MHS and university to lead the way. Developments in technology and research of genes and their functions will shape how health care is delivered, he said. Sean Biggerstaff, DHA’s acting director for the Research and Development directorate, called precision medicine the way of the future. “We have a very big basic science investment in things that range from prostate cancer to military operational medicine to hemorrhage control resuscitation,” said Biggerstaff. Psychological help, post-traumatic stress disorder, health sciences research, and global health engagement are also areas of focus, he said. The Department of Defense millennium cohort study is the largest research review in the military that looks at how living and working in the armed forces affects health. It aims to help the department improve the long-term health of service members. The new electronic health record, MHS GENESIS, also represents an opportunity to shape precision medicine for the DoD, said Biggerstaff. “It’s not just the health care we provide to our warfighters,” said Biggerstaff. “It’s the health care we provide to family members and veterans that’s also critical to the readiness mission.” Terry Rauch, acting deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Health Readiness Policy and Oversight, said bio repositories, where specimens like serum and cold blood samples are stored, provide important information, such as demographic or administrative data. These collections can support research studies as well as the work of other repositories. “In terms of looking at precision medicine and improving military health care delivery, we are ahead of the game because we have a population that we have a lot of data on,” said Rauch. DoD’s serum repository contains 60 million frozen serum samples that have been collected from service members since 1985. While it is a large collection, the data it holds can be used to identify and help individuals in a more personalized way. The Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center also has a large database that can combine the study of genes and data for research, said Rauch. “We in the MHS have a tremendous role to play in moving military precision medicine ahead,” said Rauch. Read More ... This email was sent to garyleeparker60@gmail.com using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) · 801 I St NW · Washington, DC 20536 · 800-827-1000

-------

One size no longer fits all: MHS’ approach to individualized medicine

One size no longer fits all: MHS’ approach to individualized medicine Dr. Jonathan Woodson, former assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and member of Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Board of Regents, provided the opening remarks at the recent Precision Medicine Research Conference in Potomac, Maryland. (Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences photo) The one-size-fits-all approach to prevent and treat diseases fades as precision – or individualized – medicine moves to the forefront. This approach ensures prevention and treatment fits the patient rather than the other way around. Dr. Jonathan Woodson, the former assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and a current member of Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences Board of Regents, said the Military Health System, Defense Health Agency, and the services continue to have an important role in driving readiness through this approach. “Operational readiness and medical readiness will take on new meaning and will be driven in different ways by data, digitization of health care, integration of data bases, and interdisciplinary research,” said Woodson. During the recent Precision Medicine Research Conference in Potomac, Maryland, he stressed the position of the MHS and university to lead the way. Developments in technology and research of genes and their functions will shape how health care is delivered, he said. Sean Biggerstaff, DHA’s acting director for the Research and Development directorate, called precision medicine the way of the future. “We have a very big basic science investment in things that range from prostate cancer to military operational medicine to hemorrhage control resuscitation,” said Biggerstaff. Psychological help, post-traumatic stress disorder, health sciences research, and global health engagement are also areas of focus, he said. The Department of Defense millennium cohort study is the largest research review in the military that looks at how living and working in the armed forces affects health. It aims to help the department improve the long-term health of service members. The new electronic health record, MHS GENESIS, also represents an opportunity to shape precision medicine for the DoD, said Biggerstaff. “It’s not just the health care we provide to our warfighters,” said Biggerstaff. “It’s the health care we provide to family members and veterans that’s also critical to the readiness mission.” Terry Rauch, acting deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Health Readiness Policy and Oversight, said bio repositories, where specimens like serum and cold blood samples are stored, provide important information, such as demographic or administrative data. These collections can support research studies as well as the work of other repositories. “In terms of looking at precision medicine and improving military health care delivery, we are ahead of the game because we have a population that we have a lot of data on,” said Rauch. DoD’s serum repository contains 60 million frozen serum samples that have been collected from service members since 1985. While it is a large collection, the data it holds can be used to identify and help individuals in a more personalized way. The Murtha Cancer Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center also has a large database that can combine the study of genes and data for research, said Rauch. “We in the MHS have a tremendous role to play in moving military precision medicine ahead,” said Rauch. Read More ...

---

Questions for MHS? Contact Us

STAY CONNECTED:

Military Health System The Pentagon Washington, D.C. 20301, United States

-------