Veterans Affairs administrators could potentially save hundreds of millions of dollars with improved systems for tracking their reusable medical equipment inventories, according to a report released by the department’s watchdog on Thursday.
Officials from the VA Inspector General’s Office estimated that roughly 5% of nonexpendable medical equipment — items including wheelchairs, hospital beds and blood monitors — has not been properly logged and accounted for within the department’s medical system. All together, the value of those items exceeds $210 million.
Another 4% of the equipment inventory surveyed by the investigators was considered excess or superfluous. And about one-third of the equipment was found in a different location than where officials had it listed in their official inventory files, casting doubts on how well the items were being tracked.
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“Medical facilities that do not annually inventory their nonexpendable equipment are at risk of mismanaging or losing those items,” the report stated. “Facilities also risk not assessing the condition of their medical equipment to make sure it works, is properly maintained, and readily available for patient care.
“Further, facilities may miss opportunities to plan for future equipment needs.”
In response to the findings, VA officials promised fixes by next spring to their inventory and oversight processes.
Planned changes include improvements to Veterans Health Administration Procurement and Logistics Office, which oversees more than 2.1 million items of nonexpendable equipment valued at about $12 billion.
They have also planned a new centralized system to report all lost, stolen or damaged hospital equipment, to provide for better accounting for gaps in resources. And department leaders said they will require more annual checks of existing equipment, which is required under VA policies but investigators said is not always completed.
The Veterans Health Administration is the largest health care system in America, with more than 9 million veterans enrolled and more than 1,300 medical sites spread across the country.
Officials in the current administration have promised to root out waste, fraud and abuse within hospital operations as a way to improve efficiency in care delivery and save taxpayer dollars. But critics of the efforts thus far have said those leaders have focused more on cutting staff than improving and simplifying operations.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
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