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Recovering Servicemembers and Veterans: Sustained Leadership Attention and Systematic Oversight Needed to Resolve Persistent Problems Affecting Care and Benefits

GAO-13-5 Published: Nov 16, 2012. Publicly Released: Nov 16, 2012.
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Highlights

What GAO Found

Deficiencies exposed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007 served as a catalyst compelling the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) to address a host of problems for wounded, ill, and injured servicemembers and veterans as they navigate through the recovery care continuum. This continuum extends from acute medical treatment and stabilization, through rehabilitation to reintegration, either back to active duty or to the civilian community as a veteran. In spite of 5 years of departmental efforts, recovering servicemembers and veterans are still facing problems with this process and may not be getting the services they need. Key departmental efforts included the creation or modification of various care coordination and case management programs, including the military services' wounded warrior programs. However, these programs are not always accessible to those who need them due to the inconsistent methods, such as referrals, used to identify potentially eligible servicemembers, as well as inconsistent eligibility criteria across the military services' wounded warrior programs. The departments also jointly established an integrated disability evaluation system to expedite the delivery of benefits to servicemembers. However, processing times for disability determinations under the new system have increased since 2007, resulting in lengthy wait times that limit servicemembers' ability to plan for their future. Finally, despite years of incremental efforts, DOD and VA have yet to develop sufficient capabilities for electronically sharing complete health records, which potentially delays servicemembers' receipt of coordinated care and benefits as they transition from DOD's to VA's health care system.

Collectively, a lack of leadership, oversight, resources, and collaboration has contributed to the departments' inability to fully resolve problems facing recovering servicemembers and veterans. Initially, departmental leadership exhibited focus and commitment--through the Senior Oversight Committee--to addressing problems related to case management and care coordination, disability evaluation systems, and data sharing between DOD and VA. However, the committee's oversight waned over time, and in January 2012, it was merged with the VA/DOD Joint Executive Council. Whether this council--which has primarily focused on long-term strategic planning--can effectively address the shorter-term policy focused issues once managed by the Senior Oversight Committee remains to be seen. Furthermore, DOD does not provide central oversight of the military services' wounded warrior programs, preventing it from determining how well these programs are working across the department. However, despite these shortcomings, the departments continue to take steps to resolve identified problems, such as increasing the number of staff involved with the electronic sharing of health records and the integrated disability evaluation process. Additionally, while the departments' previous attempts to collaborate on how to resolve case management and care coordination problems have largely been unsuccessful, a joint task force established in May 2012 is focused on resolving long-standing areas of disagreement between VA, DOD, and the military services. However, without more robust oversight and military service compliance, consistent implementation of policies that result in more effective case management and care coordination programs may be unattainable. GAO recommends that DOD provide central oversight of the military services' wounded warrior programs and that DOD and VA sustain high-level leadership attention and collaboration to fully resolve identified problems. DOD partially concurred with the recommendation for central oversight of the wounded warrior programs, citing issues with common eligibility criteria and systematic monitoring. DOD and VA both concurred with the recommendation for sustained leadership attention.

Why GAO Did This Study

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 required DOD and VA to jointly develop and implement policy on the care, management, and transition of recovering servicemembers. It also required GAO to report on DOD's and VA's progress in addressing these requirements. This report specifically examines (1) the extent to which DOD and VA have resolved persistent problems facing recovering servicemembers and veterans as they navigate the recovery care continuum, and (2) the reasons DOD and VA leadership have not been able to fully resolve any remaining problems. To address these objectives, GAO visited 11 DOD and VA medical facilities selected for population size and range of available resources and met with servicemembers and veterans to identify problems they continue to face. GAO also reviewed documents related to specific DOD and VA programs that assist recovering servicemembers and veterans and interviewed the leadership and staff of these programs to determine why problems have not been fully resolved.

Recommendations

GAO recommends that DOD provide central oversight of the military services’ wounded warrior programs and that DOD and VA sustain high-level leadership attention and collaboration to fully resolve identified problems. DOD partially concurred with the recommendation for central oversight of the wounded warrior programs, citing issues with common eligibility criteria and systematic monitoring. DOD and VA both concurred with the recommendation for sustained leadership attention.

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense To ensure that servicemembers have equitable access to the military services' wounded warrior programs, including the RCP, and to establish central accountability for these programs, the Secretary of Defense should establish or designate an office to centrally oversee and monitor the activities of the military services' wounded warrior programs to include the following: (1) Develop consistent eligibility criteria to ensure that similarly situated recovering servicemembers from different military services have uniform access to these programs; (2) Direct the military services' wounded warrior programs to fully comply with the policies governing care coordination and case management programs and any future changes to these policies; (3) Develop a common mechanism to systematically monitor the performance of the wounded warrior programs--to include the establishment of common terms and definitions--and report this information on a biannual basis to the Armed Services Committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Closed – Not Implemented
GAO has decided to close this recommendation as not implemented for the following reasons: (1) At the time of the report, DOD did not concur with the first part of our recommendation to develop consistent eligibility criteria for the military services' wounded warrior programs (WWPs), explaining that the military services should retain the ability to control eligibility criteria for their individual WWPs. (2) DOD can no longer address the second part of the recommendation, which called for a central office to oversee and monitor the WWPs. At the time of our report, DOD established the Warrior Care Policy Office and appointed a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Warrior Care Policy (DASD) to perform such an oversight role. However, the DASD position for this office was eliminated in January 2017, and the office was disestablished in October 2017 with remaining officials transferred to other offices within DOD. These officials explained that while they still perform some oversight tasks of the WWPs, without leadership, they are unable to enforce any of their recommendations.(3) DOD partially addressed the third part of the recommendation through the May 2015 issuance of its Interagency Complex Care Coordination policy (DODI 6010.24), which prescribed the use of common terms, definitions, care and transition procedures, and documentation in accordance with the joint VA and DOD Memorandum of Understanding for interagency complex care coordination requirements for servicemembers and veterans (July 2014) and DOD Directive 5124.02 (June 2008). However, DOD has not used this information to systematically monitor and report on the WWPs to relevant congressional committees.
Department of Defense To ensure that persistent challenges with care coordination, disability evaluation, and the electronic sharing of health records are fully resolved, the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs should ensure that these issues receive sustained leadership attention and collaboration at the highest levels with a singular focus on what is best for the individual servicemember or veteran to ensure continuity of care and a seamless transition from DOD to VA. This should include holding the Joint Executive Council accountable for (1) ensuring that key issues affecting recovering servicemembers and veterans get sufficient consideration, including recommendations made by the Warrior Care and Coordination Task Force and the Recovering Warrior Task Force; (2) developing mechanisms for making joint policy decisions; (3) involving the appropriate decision-makers for timely implementation of policy; and; (4) establishing mechanisms to systematically oversee joint initiatives and ensure that outcomes and goals are identified and achieved.
Closed – Implemented
DOD concurred with our recommendation. As of October 2016, under the joint DOD/VA Interagency Care Coordination Committee, the departments made progress to improve nonclinical care coordination procedures through the development of two initiatives--the Lead Coordinator initiative (in which a single care coordinator serves as the primary point of contact for a recovering servicemember) and the use of a single, interagency care plan (ICP) for each recovering servicemember. By November 2017, DOD and VA began to administer Lead Coordinator training to staff in both departments. In March 2019, VHA officials told us that Lead Coordinators are being used at both VHA and DOD. In March 2019, VHA officials told us that VA and DOD have not been able to develop a shared IT platform that would expedite the transfer of information on servicemembers transitioning from DOD to VA through an ICP as previously envisioned. Instead, officials stated that VHA and DOD are sharing clinical and non-clinical information for program participants through transition checklists and other forms. This information is being transmitted by various methods, such as encrypted email, secure access file exchange, fax, or hand delivery. Further, in November 2018, DOD and VA took steps to strengthen the oversight and more closely integrate care coordination efforts by establishing a Care Coordination Business Line within their joint Health Executive Committee. The Care Coordination Business Line is led by program-level VA and DOD directors, who report to the co-chairs of the Health Executive Committee. This entity is intended to (1) ensure that key issues affecting recovering servicemembers and veterans get sufficient consideration, (2) develop mechanisms for making joint policy decisions; (3) involve the appropriate decision-makers for timely implementation of policy; and; (4) establish mechanisms to systematically oversee joint initiatives and ensure that outcomes and goals are identified and achieved.
Department of Veterans Affairs To ensure that persistent challenges with care coordination, disability evaluation, and the electronic sharing of health records are fully resolved, the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs should ensure that these issues receive sustained leadership attention and collaboration at the highest levels with a singular focus on what is best for the individual servicemember or veteran to ensure continuity of care and a seamless transition from DOD to VA. This should include holding the Joint Executive Council accountable for (1) ensuring that key issues affecting recovering servicemembers and veterans get sufficient consideration, including recommendations made by the Warrior Care and Coordination Task Force and the Recovering Warrior Task Force; (2) developing mechanisms for making joint policy decisions; (3) involving the appropriate decision-makers for timely implementation of policy; and; (4) establishing mechanisms to systematically oversee joint initiatives and ensure that outcomes and goals are identified and achieved.
Closed – Implemented
VA concurred with our recommendation. As of October 2016, under the joint DOD/VA Interagency Care Coordination Committee, the departments made progress to improve nonclinical care coordination procedures through the development of two initiatives--the Lead Coordinator initiative (in which a single care coordinator serves as the primary point of contact for a recovering servicemember) and the use of a single, interagency care plan (ICP) for each recovering servicemember. In November 2016, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) published a directive that included the roles and responsibilities for the Lead Coordinator position and established procedures for the transition of care, coordination of services, and case management of ill or injured servicemembers. By November 2017, DOD and VA began to administer Lead Coordinator training to staff in both departments. In March 2019, VHA officials told us that Lead Coordinators are being used at both VHA and DOD. The ICP initiative has evolved over time. In March 2019, VHA officials told us that VA and DOD have not been able to develop a shared IT platform that would expedite the transfer of information on servicemembers transitioning from DOD to VA through an ICP as previously envisioned. Instead, officials stated that VHA and DOD are sharing clinical and non-clinical information for program participants through transition checklists and other forms. This information is being transmitted by various methods, such as encrypted email, secure access file exchange, fax, or hand delivery. Further, in November 2018, DOD and VA took steps to strengthen the oversight and more closely integrate care coordination efforts by establishing a Care Coordination Business Line within their joint Health Executive Committee. The Care Coordination Business Line is led by program-level VA and DOD directors, who report to the co-chairs of the Health Executive Committee. This entity is intended to (1) ensure that key issues affecting recovering servicemembers and veterans get sufficient consideration, (2) develop mechanisms for making joint policy decisions; (3) involve the appropriate decision-makers for timely implementation of policy; and; (4) establish mechanisms to systematically oversee joint initiatives and ensure that outcomes and goals are identified and achieved.

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Automated medical recordsDisability benefitsDisability evaluationElectronic health recordsEligibility criteriaEmployeesHealth care facilitiesHealth care planningHealth care policiesHealth care programsHealth care servicesInformation accessMedical recordsMilitary health servicesMilitary personnelMedical facilitiesRehabilitation programsService-disabled veteransStaff utilizationStaffing levelsVeteransVeterans benefitsCase managementData sharingExecutive agency oversightFederal agency leadershipInformation sharingProgram coordinationStrategic planningVeterans medical careVeterans rehabilitation