IG: VA lags on meeting own care standards

IG: VA lags on meeting own care standards
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday May 11, 2010 16:23:32 EDT

Veterans Affairs Department hospitals and clinics are moving slowly to implement standardized policies for treatment of mental health disorders and substance abuse disorders, according to a new report by VA’s inspector general.

The result is hurting veterans, said Christina Roof, assistant national legislative director with AmVets, one of the major veterans service organizations. “Findings in this report are quite disturbing,” she said, especially given that mental health problems are a significant concern among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and the suicide rate among service members and veterans remains high.

“They have a plan, they just have not gotten around to fully implementing it,” Roof said. “I am not saying the VA isn’t trying, just maybe not hard enough or not staying focused. However, the rates of suicide have been going up for five years.”

The report focuses on implementation of the Uniform Mental Health Services Handbook, developed by VA in 2004, which contains about 200 specific guidelines for treatment programs. It includes things like kinds of treatment, the duration of treatment, staffing, and analysis. The idea was that the guidelines would be implemented, over time, in veterans facilities large and small to provide standardized care, a way to track what does and doesn’t work, and to allocate resources so veterans could expect the same type of help to be available throughout the U.S.

Among the problems cited in the report: