Report on Medical Center Sanitation and Follow-Up of the Combined Assessment Program Review, Kansas City VA Medical Center.

摘要

Combined Assessment Program (CAP) reviews are part of the Office of Inspector General's (OIG's) efforts to ensure that high quality health care and benefits services are provided to our Nation's veterans. CAP reviews combine the knowledge and skills of the OIG's Offices of Healthcare Inspections, Audit, and Investigations to provide collaborative assessments of VA medical facilities and regional offices on a cyclical basis. The purposes of CAP reviews are to: evaluate how well VA facilities are accomplishing their missions of providing veterans convenient access to high quality medical and benefits services; determine if management controls ensure compliance with regulations and VA policies, assist management in achieving program goals, and minimize vulnerability to fraud, waste, and abuse; and conduct fraud and integrity awareness training for facility staff. In addition to this typical coverage, CAP reviews may examine issues or allegations referred by VA employees, patients, Members of Congress, or others. At the request of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a review of the sanitation and pest control, as these relate to the quality of care provided to veterans, at the Kansas City Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (KCVAMC). The review was conducted from April 1 through April 10, 2002. In addition we conducted a follow-up review of the actions taken to implement recommendations we reported in our report of the Combined Assessment Program Review of the Kansas City VA Medical Center, dated January 2, 2002, conducted during the week of June 25-29, 2001. The report presents our analysis of the medical center's Environment of Care and then the progress made in implementing our prior CAP recommendations. The appendices provide further explanation of the reviews performed at the medical center over the past 5 years, an analysis of the quality of care as it relates to the reported pest infestations and infection control, pictures of some of the unsanitary and unsafe conditions found during our follow-up review, and VA's management's responses to our recommendations.