VA Health Care: Trends in Malpractice Claims Can Aid in Addressing Quality of Care Problems
HEHS-96-24
Published: Dec 21, 1995. Publicly Released: Dec 21, 1995.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) malpractice claims, focusing on the: (1) total number of malpractice claims filed against VA between fiscal years (FY) 1990 and 1994; (2) way VA manages its malpractice claims; (3) extent to which malpractice experiences are used in VA quality assurance activities; and (4) volume of non-VA health care malpractice claims.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct the Under Secretary for Health to require VAMC directors to obtain and utilize all available AFIP data, including facility-specific data to: (1) identify problem-prone clinical processes; and (2) initiate programs to prevent recurrence of adverse events that caused malpractice claims to be generated. |
Closed – Implemented
VA agrees with the report findings and concurs with the recommendation. VA notified all medical centers of the availability of AFIP data, established a physician medical/legal consultant position to manage the review of tort claims for all Regional Counsel offices, and educated VAMC quality management staff about the capabilities of AFIP in identifying malpractice trends and risk management issues.
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Topics
Claims settlementInternal controlsMalpractice (medical)Patient care servicesPhysiciansQuality assuranceVeterans benefitsVeterans hospitalsQuality of careVA health care