A Veterans Affairs watchdog reported Monday that a Houston, Texas VA Medical Center incorrectly recorded hundreds of appointments and wait times.
An anonymous allegation alerted the Inspector General that leading staff members at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and its associated Community Based Outpatient Clinics were instructing staff to record clinic cancellations as patient cancellations.
It was found that two previous scheduling supervisors and one current director of outpatient clinics were the ones to instruct the staff to record clinic cancellations in this way.
Two hundred twenty-three appointments were recorded incorrectly from July 2014 to June 2015.
Staff rescheduled 42 percent of these appointments beyond 30 days. The average wait time for a rescheduled visit was 81 days, which is 78 days longer than the data shown in the scheduling system.
The VA watchdog found similar issues at this clinic during an inspection in May and June of 2014. According to the Inspector General, the problems persisted due to a “lack of effective training and oversight”.
The Inspector General recommends that the clinic provide staff training, improve scheduling for the inspection of employee practices, and take action when these inspections find shortcomings.
