Under Pressure From Congress, VA Aims To Buy More Implants In Bulk

Article preview from "The Gray Sheet"- January 20, 2014

Frustrated congressmen lambasted the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at a Jan. 15 congressional hearing for failing to follow its own implant procurement procedures, according to an analysis by the Government Accountability Office. Lawmakers also scrutinized the VA’s policies on ensuring that company sales representatives don’t perform procedures on patients and gaps in the agency’s ability to track patients who received implants.

Under Pressure From Congress, VA Aims To Buy More Implants In Bulk

Article preview from "The Gray Sheet"- January 20, 2014

An investigation into the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs management of surgical implants by the Government Accountability Office found that the VA was not following its own bulk purchase requirements, lacked a system for tracking patients with the implanted devices and may have allowed company vendors to directly operate on veterans in some instances – to the frustration of Representatives on the House Committee of Veterans’ Affairs.

The audit was performed at the request of the Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., chairman of the committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. His conclusion at the end of a Jan. 15 subcommittee hearing on the GAO findings outlined in a Jan. 13 report: “This lack of progress on the part of the VA is unacceptable.”

The VA concurred with all of the GAO report’s recommendations, which focused on expanding and improving awareness of and compliance with the bulk purchase contracts and conducting additional internal audits. The study and recommendations focused on the Veterans Health Administration, a subset of the VA.

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