SHAMEFUL

V.A. Clinic ‘Fixed’ Appointment Records

To hide delays.

A new probe into a Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic reveals staff were instructed to falsify appointment records to make it appear that patients were being seen within the agency’s goal of 14 days. The VA’s Office of Medical Inspector looked into an outpatient clinic in Fort Collins, Colorado, and found that 6,300 patients waited months to be seen. However, staff were placed on a “bad boy list” if they didn’t “fix” records to indicate patients waited no longer than 14 days. The VA has recently been scrutinizing its delays in care. Last month, the department revealed 23 veteran deaths were linked to delays in cancer screenings at clinics over the past four years, and other VA medical employees have alleged even more died from delays.