A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office
discovered that the Veterans Health Administration had overlooked or missed
adverse actions that were reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB)
while hiring physicians and other healthcare providers. The GAO analyzed healthcare
providers at the VHA as of September 2016 who were recorded in NPDB, and found
that VHA facilities did not consistently act within VHA employment policies and
hired providers with various disqualifying adverse actions.
Staff that were involved in the
credentialing and hiring process in at least 5 facilities did not have
knowledge of the VHA policy regarding hiring providers with revoked or
surrendered licenses due to misconduct or incompetence. VHA officials have
stated that they are developing improved processes to verify credentials of
providers and ensure they meet all requirements. In December 2017, the VHA
conducted a review of all licensed providers and removed 11 that did not meet
the licensure requirements, but these reviews are infrequent.
The GAO made seven recommendations on how the
VHA can better their reviewing and hiring process. The recommendations included
that the VHA should implement mandatory training periodically for facility
staff that is responsible for verifying credentialing and hiring.
Click here for more
information regarding the GAO report on VHA.
