Guardianship Firm and its Principals Charged with Federal Conspiracy, Fraud, Theft and Money Laundering Offenses
Two women charged in decade-long scheme to embezzle funds from client trust accounts who received VA and SSA benefit payments.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
801 I Street North West
Washington, D.C. 20536, United States
800-827-1000
-------Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Tuesday, 25 July 2017 "Healthcare Inspection—Quality of Care Concerns at Two Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 Facilities and a Veterans Readjustment Counseling Center, St. Cloud VA Health Care System, St. Cloud, Minnesota, Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis"
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
Healthcare Inspection—Quality of Care Concerns at Two Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 Facilities and a Veterans Readjustment Counseling Center, St. Cloud VA Health Care System, St. Cloud, Minnesota, Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis
OIG conducted an inspection at the October 2014 request of Congressman Timothy J. Walz to assess quality of care concerns at the St. Cloud and Minneapolis Health Care Systems (St Cloud, Minneapolis); and the St. Paul Veterans Readjustment Counseling Center (Vet Center). We substantiated St. Cloud managers notified patients through a letter rather than individual contact when Mental Health (MH) services provided by a non-VA PTSD clinic were stopped in 2009. St. Cloud staff did not individually contact patients prior to terminating or transferring patients. Some veterans did not seek or receive MH services from VA. Also, we substantiated Minneapolis managers notified patients through a letter rather than individual contact when MH services provided by a non-VA PTSD clinic were stopped in 2014. However, the decision was rescinded approximately 3 months after sending the letters, and prior to the decision’s effectiveness date. We could not substantiate when the Vet Center contract for non-VA PTSD care was terminated in 2014, that a Vet Center staff member misled the vendor regarding termination. We did not find documentation that Vet Center staff successfully contacted all affected patients to arrange transfer back to the Vet Center or VA MH services. In addition, we did not substantiate a Minneapolis patient’s colonoscopy was untimely scheduled. We substantiated a Minneapolis patient’s x-ray of his foot was not scheduled timely but did not identify adverse effects related to the delay. We substantiated test results were not communicated timely to a Minneapolis patient. We did not find documentation that the patient experienced adverse effects due to the delay. We also substantiated a provider did not document consideration of a potentially significant adverse medication interaction when a patient’s medications were changed. However, the patient’s electronic health record did not contain documentation that the patient experienced adverse drug interactions. Minneapolis managers identified opportunities for improvement to ensure medication reconciliation was done consistently. We recommended (1) the St. Cloud Director ensure adequate processes for termination or transfer when non-VA MH services are discontinued and identify patients whose non-VA PTSD services were terminated, determine if the patients were offered and received MH treatment, and take action as appropriate; (2) the Minneapolis Director ensure compliance with VHA scheduling and communication of test results policies; and (3) the Chief of Vet Center Services review the patients whose non-VA PTSD services were terminated, determine if the patients were offered and received mental health services, and take action as appropriate.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG)
-------Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Tuesday, 25 July 2017 "Healthcare Inspection—Quality of Care Concerns at Two Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 Facilities and a Veterans Readjustment Counseling Center, St. Cloud VA Health Care System, St. Cloud, Minnesota, Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis"
Healthcare Inspection—Quality of Care Concerns at Two Veterans Integrated Service Network 23 Facilities and a Veterans Readjustment Counseling Center, St. Cloud VA Health Care System, St. Cloud, Minnesota, Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Minneapolis
OIG conducted an inspection at the October 2014 request of Congressman Timothy J. Walz to assess quality of care concerns at the St. Cloud and Minneapolis Health Care Systems (St Cloud, Minneapolis); and the St. Paul Veterans Readjustment Counseling Center (Vet Center). We substantiated St. Cloud managers notified patients through a letter rather than individual contact when Mental Health (MH) services provided by a non-VA PTSD clinic were stopped in 2009. St. Cloud staff did not individually contact patients prior to terminating or transferring patients. Some veterans did not seek or receive MH services from VA. Also, we substantiated Minneapolis managers notified patients through a letter rather than individual contact when MH services provided by a non-VA PTSD clinic were stopped in 2014. However, the decision was rescinded approximately 3 months after sending the letters, and prior to the decision’s effectiveness date. We could not substantiate when the Vet Center contract for non-VA PTSD care was terminated in 2014, that a Vet Center staff member misled the vendor regarding termination. We did not find documentation that Vet Center staff successfully contacted all affected patients to arrange transfer back to the Vet Center or VA MH services. In addition, we did not substantiate a Minneapolis patient’s colonoscopy was untimely scheduled. We substantiated a Minneapolis patient’s x-ray of his foot was not scheduled timely but did not identify adverse effects related to the delay. We substantiated test results were not communicated timely to a Minneapolis patient. We did not find documentation that the patient experienced adverse effects due to the delay. We also substantiated a provider did not document consideration of a potentially significant adverse medication interaction when a patient’s medications were changed. However, the patient’s electronic health record did not contain documentation that the patient experienced adverse drug interactions. Minneapolis managers identified opportunities for improvement to ensure medication reconciliation was done consistently. We recommended (1) the St. Cloud Director ensure adequate processes for termination or transfer when non-VA MH services are discontinued and identify patients whose non-VA PTSD services were terminated, determine if the patients were offered and received MH treatment, and take action as appropriate; (2) the Minneapolis Director ensure compliance with VHA scheduling and communication of test results policies; and (3) the Chief of Vet Center Services review the patients whose non-VA PTSD services were terminated, determine if the patients were offered and received mental health services, and take action as appropriate.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
801 I Street North West
Washington, D.C. 20536, United States
800-827-1000
-------Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Tuesday, 25 July 2017 "Jacksonville Veteran Indicted On Charges Of Stealing $538,000 In Fraudulent Disability Benefits"
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
Jacksonville Veteran Indicted On Charges Of Stealing $538,000 In Fraudulent Disability Benefits
Veteran indicted on charges for fraudulently stealing $538,000 in VA disability benefits.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG)
-------Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Tuesday, 25 July 2017 "Jacksonville Veteran Indicted On Charges Of Stealing $538,000 In Fraudulent Disability Benefits"
Jacksonville Veteran Indicted On Charges Of Stealing $538,000 In Fraudulent Disability Benefits
Veteran indicted on charges for fraudulently stealing $538,000 in VA disability benefits.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
801 I Street North West
Washington, D.C. 20536, United States
800-827-1000
-------Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Tuesday, 25 JUly 2017 "Owner Of Commercial Supply Companies Gets 60 Months In Prison For Conspiring To Defraud Approximately 40 Companies Of More Than $1 Million"
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
Owner Of Commercial Supply Companies Gets 60 Months In Prison For Conspiring To Defraud Approximately 40 Companies Of More Than $1 Million
Philadelphia man sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiring to defraud approximately 40 businesses out of more than $1 million.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG)
-------Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) in Washington, D.C., United States for Tuesday, 25 JUly 2017 "Owner Of Commercial Supply Companies Gets 60 Months In Prison For Conspiring To Defraud Approximately 40 Companies Of More Than $1 Million"
Owner Of Commercial Supply Companies Gets 60 Months In Prison For Conspiring To Defraud Approximately 40 Companies Of More Than $1 Million
Philadelphia man sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiring to defraud approximately 40 businesses out of more than $1 million.
Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG).
801 I Street North West
Washington, D.C. 20536, United States
800-827-1000
-------Military Health System in Washington, D.C., United States for Tuesday, 25 July 2017 "Lab developed tests help keep military medicine on the leading edge of innovation"
-------Military Health System in Washington, D.C., United States for Tuesday, 25 July 2017 "Lab developed tests help keep military medicine on the leading edge of innovation"
Lab developed tests help keep military medicine on the leading edge of innovationAir Force Staff Sgt. Mari Crespo, a medical laboratory technician, conducts tests on a blood bank unit at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, June 26, 2017. A program that allows lab developed tests for purchased care for TRICARE beneficiaries has been renewed. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Teresa J. Cleveland)
A program that keeps the Military Health System on the leading edge of medical innovation, and benefits more than 128,000 patients in the system, will continue. The Secretary of Defense has renewed the Non-FDA Approved Laboratory Developed Tests Demonstration Project begun in September 2014.
“These tests are developed within a lab, usually for sole use within that lab,” said Dr. Jim Black, medical director for the Defense Health Agency. The Food and Drug Administration has discretion in its oversight role in approving lab-developed tests, allowing some to be used without going through the agency’s formal approval process, he said.
Hospitals and labs, including those run by the military, can create and use these tests without seeking the FDA’s approval. The Military Health System uses the Laboratory Joint Working Group, a body of clinical and lab experts from all of the military services, to prioritize and review a test. The criteria of that evaluation are based on a hierarchy of reliable evidence of proven medical effectiveness (such as scientifically valid data and information published in refereed medical and scientific literature), as well as TRICARE’s rules involving rare diseases. The group then forwards its recommendation to the director of the Defense Health Agency for final approval for use. The sticking point came in care given outside of military treatment facilities for TRICARE’s beneficiaries. TRICARE requires that all tests it covers meet FDA approval, automatically eliminating many lab-developed tests from even being considered.
“As the whole field of genomic medicine and genetic testing has grown, the difficulty TRICARE faced was that these tests were increasingly being used in the practice of medicine,” said Black. “But without FDA approval and clearance, TRICARE could not cover them.”
The demonstration allows TRICARE to evaluate these tests for safety and value and approve their use. More than 100 tests have been given the green light. Those include tests for diagnosing cancers as well as blood or clotting disorders, genetic diseases or syndromes, and neurological conditions. Some tests are only for specific conditions or rare diseases.
Military hospitals already have their own lab-developed tests. The tests are similar to, but not exactly the same as, those covered under this TRICARE demonstration program. Army Lt. Col. George Leonard, a pathologist in charge of medical oversight for the laboratory at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, said they have several tests that help them respond more quickly when treating patients.
“For example, we developed an assay for Bordetella pertussis, better known as whooping cough,” said Leonard. “This allowed us to diagnose Bordetella pertussis within hours, instead of culture testing, which takes days. If you have something that is potentially very contagious and you can’t give a diagnosis until days later, you’ve really gotten yourself behind the curve when it comes to preventive medicine or epidemiologic control of that organism.”
Leonard pointed out that while a patient is being diagnosed over a number of days, disease could spread to a larger community. If caution dictated, everyone who may have come in contact with a patient being tested would be quarantined for several days under the old test. That’s a tremendous amount of lost work and productivity if the test came back negative. The lab-developed tests also help avoid misdiagnosing a disease.
“Bordetella parapertussis (a closely related to but a distinct species from Bordetella pertussis) might present almost the same clinically,” he said. “While culture may only detect pertussis, our assay can tell us if a patient has a related disorder so we can treat them correctly.”
Leonard also wanted to dispel any perception that these lab-developed tests, while not FDA-approved, are not up to par. “We apply the same rigorous standards for accuracy and validity for lab-developed tests as the FDA approved ones. Our tests give accurate and reproducible results,” he said.
Black said these types of testing, under the demonstration project and in use at military facilities, are just one more tool the Military Health System uses to keep up with the rapid pace of innovation in health care.
“The demonstration allowed us to develop a process to evaluate these tests for safety and efficacy,” said Black. “Using lab-developed tests, we’ve made great strides in care.”
The Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301, United States
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