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Open Recommendations (4 total)

VA Disability Benefits: Board of Veterans' Appeals Should Address Gaps in Its Quality Assurance Process

GAO-24-106156
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Board of Veterans Appeals The Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals should develop and implement an evidence-based decision-making process that includes a plan outlining how it will build evidence to assess the underlying causes for the most common errors identified by the case review process and the most common reasons for CAVC remands. The Board should use this evidence to better target its interventions and assess their results. One option is to fold the development of this process into the Board's planned evaluation. (Recommendation 3)
Open
VA's Board of Veterans' Appeals concurred in principle with this recommendation, and stated that since the release of our report, it has engaged with the Social Security Administration to discuss their use of causal "heat maps," and how the Board may design tools to better assess any need for targeted intervention to reduce U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) remands. Also, they reported that the Board has been attempting to engage outside contractor assistance to help improve its historical appeals data collection, analysis, and sampling methodologies. Further, Board officials stated that it is currently creating a comprehensive database of Appeals Modernization Act decisions that identifies the number of claims that are returned to the Board by CAVC, and the specific statute, regulation, or Court precedent, that led to the remand. It is developing programming that will generate a monthly report that will be given to Veteran Law Judges highlighting their decisions that were remanded by CAVC. We will consider closing this recommendation once the Board provides us with (1) examples of the programming and monthly reports given to VLJs highlighting their decisions that were remanded by CAVC, (2) a well-defined written plan for applying an evidence-based approach to assess the underlying causes for common errors and remands, and (3) examples of how it uses evidence to better target its interventions.
Board of Veterans Appeals The Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals should develop written policies and procedures related to its accuracy rate measure, to require that OAI (1) involves more than one official in the calculation process; (2) documents its calculation of monthly and fiscal year accuracy rates; and (3) manages related error data. (Recommendation 1)
Open
VA's Board of Veterans' Appeals concurred in principle with this recommendation and acknowledged that its policy specifically related to its accuracy rate measure could be improved. According to Board officials, they are drafting a more comprehensive set of written guidance and procedures. Specifically, the Board reports that it modified its quality assurance processes in January 2024 so that more than one official is involved in calculating the accuracy rate; the calculation of the accuracy rate is documented and reviewed by the Board's Budget Office; and related error data are stored both electronically and in a secure, physical location. We will consider closing this recommendation when the Board provides us with (1) a copy of its new written guidance and procedures related to its accuracy rate measure, (2) documentation related to the modifications of its quality assurance processes, including details about which officials are involved in calculating the accuracy rate, examples of the documentation of the accuracy rate, and (3) details about the storing of the error data in an electronic and physical space and the security protocols in place.
Board of Veterans Appeals The Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals should study how to evaluate VLJ adjudicative decisional consistency. One option is to fold the development of this study into the Board's planned evaluation. (Recommendation 4)
Open
The Board disagreed with this recommendation. Board officials stated that it would be inappropriate to force consistency in VLJ decisions in a way that is inconsistent with codes of judicial conduct and other standards applicable to VLJs. They stated that there will and should be variance in how legal authority is applied to the individual facts and circumstances of each case appealed to the Board. Board officials further stated that VLJs should be independent and not subject to pressure and influence. They also stated that, as part of evaluating individual VLJs' adherence to performance standards, the Board evaluates the total number of decisions each VLJ has adjudicated and the manner in which they have adjudicated them, among other things. In addition, Board officials noted that the number of decisions remanded does not demonstrate whether such remands were warranted, and that the number of CAVC remands or reversals does not necessarily correlate with productivity, legal acumen, or even with performance. Finally, they said that the concept of "consistency" of decision-making among individual judges evaluating sets of facts and circumstances of each individual case is a difficult one to address at all levels of adjudication, not only at the Board, but also at CAVC. We acknowledge the importance of judicial independence, that some degree of variance is expected given that independence, and that variation is not necessarily an indicator of poor quality decision-making. In addition, the Board acknowledges that consistency among VLJs in the use of appropriate legal authority is appropriate. However, without studying consistency, the Board will remain unaware of whether systemic inconsistencies in VLJ decision-making exist, and the Board will be unable to target interventions, as appropriate. We continue to believe that the results of systematic study of VLJ adjudicative decisions for consistency could provide a basis for targeting interventions, such as training, to assist VLJs. As such, this recommendation is not intended to "force" consistency in any VLJ decisions, but rather is meant to help the Board assist VLJs. Our recommendation is worded to allow the Board the necessary latitude to implement it in a way that allows for the retention of judicial independence while meeting other goals it deems appropriate.
Board of Veterans Appeals The Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals should monitor how veteran law judges choose to incorporate the feedback they receive from the case review process—including whether errors are corrected—and use this data to inform decision making related to the case review process. (Recommendation 2)
Open
VA's Board of Veterans' Appeals concurred with this recommendation and stated it has modified its internal processes to monitor whether a Veteran Law Judge (VLJ) accepts or rejects the feedback offered through the Board's quality review process. In June 2024, Board officials stated that they had implemented a policy that requires VLJs to respond in writing whether they agree with the quality review feedback and whether they are addressing the identified error. Further, officials said the error memorandum has been modified to include a section where the VLJ must document their decision regarding whether to accept the feedback. They also said they collected data that revealed that between October 2023 and April 2024 VLJs rejected the quality review feedback at a rate of 0.35 percent and that the agency will use this data to inform decision-making related to the case review process. We will consider closing this recommendation when the Board provides (1) a copy of the Board's updated policy for monitoring how VLJs choose to incorporate OAI feedback, (2) the modified error memorandum, and (3) evidence showing that the Board has implemented the monitoring procedures and are using the information gleaned from the process.
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