Care in the Community Inspection of Medical Facilities in VISN 4: VA Healthcare

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Care in the Community healthcare inspection program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of community care processes at eight Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 4: VA Healthcare medical facilities with a community care program. 

This evaluation focused on five domains:
   •    Leadership and Administration of Community Care
   •    Administratively Closed Community Care Consults
   •    Community Care Provider Requests for Additional Services
   •    Care Coordination Activities for Patients Referred for Community Care
   •    Community Urgent Care Coordination and Management

The OIG issued 13 recommendations for VA to correct identified deficiencies in the five domains:
   •    Leadership and Administration of Community Care
     o    Community care oversight councils
     o    Staffing tool reassessments
     o    Patient safety events
     o    Patient safety trends, lessons learned, and corrective actions
     o    Community care document importing
   •    Administratively Closed Community Care Consults
     o    Community care appointment confirmation
     o    Medical documents
   •    Community Care Provider Requests for Additional Services
     o    Request processing
     o    Approval and denial letters for community providers and patients
   •    Care Coordination Activities for Patients Referred for Community Care
     o    Community Care–Care Coordination Plan note use to document care coordination activities
     o    Appointment confirmation
   •    Community Urgent Care Coordination and Management
     o    Community Care–Urgent Care Record note creation