Federal Reports

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 South Central VA Health Care Network Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 16 medical facilities with a community care program. 

This evaluation focused on six domains:
   •    Leadership and Administration of Community Care
   •    Community Care Diagnostic Imaging Results
   •    Administratively Closed Community Care Consults
   •    Community Care Provider Requests for Additional Services
   •    Care Coordination Activities for Patients Referred for Community Care
   •    Urgent Care in the Community

The OIG issued 13 recommendations for improvement in the six domains:
   •    Leadership and Administration of Community Care
     o    Community care oversight councils
     o    Staffing needs
     o    Patient safety event entry and briefing
     o    Community care document importing
   •    Community Care Diagnostic Imaging Results
     o    Significant findings alert
   •    Administratively Closed Community Care Consults
     o    Medical documents after administrative closure
   •    Community Care Provider Requests for Additional Services
     o    Request processing
     o    Approval and denial letters
   •    Care Coordination Activities for Patients Referred for Community Care
     o    Community Care–Care Coordination Plan note
     o    Appointment confirmation
   •    Urgent Care in the Community
     o    Community Care–Urgent Care Record note

This report presents the results of our audit of the Mail Theft Mitigation and Response: Sacramento, CA.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is responsible for administering $48.2 billion provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for four different broadband programs, namely the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, the Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Grant program, the Digital Equity Act program, and the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. Each has different programmatic requirements, but they all aim to expand broadband infrastructure and promote broadband adoption and use.

The objective for this evaluation was to identify potential challenges for deploying broadband to underserved and unserved communities. We interviewed NTIA and state and territory broadband office representatives, surveyed broadband offices, and sent questionnaires to industry stakeholder associations. Broadband officials and industry stakeholders identified challenges with the following: (1) statutory requirements, (2) Notice of Funding Opportunity provisions, (3) supply chain and labor market shortages, and (4) NTIA’s communication process. Our report describes these challenges and does not make recommendations.