VAOIG Reviews 6 CBOCs in Nevada and California

Community Based Outpatient Clinic Reviews Henderson and Pahrump, NV Palm Desert and Corona, CA Pasadena and Santa Maria, CA 08/26/09. The VA Office of Inspector General reviewed six Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) the week of June 15–19, 2009. The CBOCs reviewed were Henderson and Pahrump, NV; Palm Desert and Corona, CA; and Pasadena and Santa Maria, CA. The parent facilities of these CBOCs are the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System (HCS), VA Loma Linda HCS, and VA Greater Los Angeles HCS, respectively; they are all part of Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 22. The purpose of the review was to assess whether CBOCs are operated in a manner that provides veterans with consistent, safe, high-quality health care. The review covered five areas: quality of care measures, credentialing and privileging, environment of care and emergency management, patient satisfaction, and CBOC contracts. We noted several opportunities for improvement and made the following recommendations to VISN and facility management: (1) Ensure Performance Improvement (PI) data is collected consistently on all providers. (2) Initiate all background checks according to VHA policy. (3) Maintain auditory privacy during the check-in process and at the pharmacy pick-up window. (4) Develop a local policy and provide staff education for medical and mental health emergencies. (5) Recover the overcharges from the vendor for the billings for lapsed enrollees. (6) Include a timely analysis of enrollees in all future invoices. (7) Properly identify locations of all fire extinguishers. VAOIG