Veterans Health Failure

This study explored why there is so much failure and mismanagement in the federal government. Federal agencies lack incentives for efficiency and quality, and the environment in some workplaces seems to breed unethical behavior. The government has also become far too large to manage effectively and for Congress to oversee adequately.A new investigation byUSA TODAY reveals a pattern of rather disgraceful mismanagement in the Department of Veterans Affairs:… the VA—the nation’s largest employer of health care workers—has for years concealed mistakes and misdeeds by staff members entrusted with the care of veterans.In some cases, agency managers do not report troubled practitioners to the National Practitioner Data Bank, making it easier for them to keep working with patients elsewhere. The agency also failed to ensure VA hospitals reported disciplined providers to state licensing boards.In other cases, veterans ’ hospitals signed secret settlement deals with dozens of doctors, nurses and health care workers that included promises to conceal serious mistakes—from inappropriate relationships and breakdowns in supervision to dangerous medical errors–even after forcing them out of the VA.USA TODAY reviewed hundreds of confidential VA records, including about 230 secret settlement deals never before seen by the public … In at least 126 cases, the VA initially found the workers’ mistakes or misdeeds were so serious that they should be fired. In nearly three-quarters...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs