Veteran Oversight Now is an official podcast of the Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of Inspector General. Each episode features interviews with key stakeh...
VON Podcast - IG Missal Highlights Latest Semiannual Report to Congress
In the latest episode of Veteran Oversight Now, VA Inspector General Michael J. Missal discusses the VA OIG’s latest Semiannual Report to Congress that covered oversight work from April 1 to September 30, 2024. This edition also includes highlights of the VA OIG’s work from October 2024. “I’m extremely proud of all the enhancements we’ve made and the exceptional improvements we helped to bring about for VA’s programs and operations, which ultimately improve the lives of veterans and their family members.” – VA Inspector General Michael J. Missal
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15:41
Unpaid Postage Bill Delays Critical Cancer Screenings—Rebroadcast
In this latest episode of Veteran Oversight Now, we’re revisiting a highly downloaded episode from February 2024—Unpaid Postage Bill Delays Critical Cancer Screenings. Hear from a VA OIG healthcare inspection hotline director, who discusses delays in the receipt of patients’ colorectal cancer screening tests due to an unpaid postage bill by the Phoenix VA Health Care System in Arizona. This edition also includes highlights of the VA OIG’s work from September 2024. “The VISN actually led a stand-down at the facility to retrain all of the laboratory staff about the test, about the assessing of the test and processing it. And then they also passed all of that information to all of the other facilities within VISN 22. So, it wasn’t just Phoenix, you know, they made sure all of the facilities in VISN 22 had the same information and the same knowledge. So, to follow that up, they’re doing weekly audits and checking to make sure that the logging process is being done correctly. And so far, the reported compliance has been 100 percent.” – Trina Rollins, VA Office of Inspector General, Office of Healthcare Inspections, Hotline Director
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30:54
Veteran Dies Following Delay in “Code Blue” Alert at Memphis VA Medical Center—Rebroadcast
In this latest episode of Veteran Oversight Now, we’re revisiting a highly downloaded episode from April 2024—Veteran Dies Following Delay in “Code Blue” Alert at Memphis VA Medical Center. Hear from a VA OIG healthcare inspection hotline director discuss how a telemetry technician’s failure to follow a series of communications within the time frame established in the facility’s cardiac telemetry monitoring policy delayed initiating a code blue alert, ending with the patient’s death. This edition also includes highlights of the VA OIG’s work from August 2024. “Once the patient's heart rate completely stopped and they went into asystole, that should have triggered a code blue. Period.” – Trina Rollins, VA Office of Inspector General, Office of Healthcare Inspections, Hotline Director Related Report: Care Deficiencies and Leaders’ Inadequate Reviews of a Patient Who Died at the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee
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26:36
Poor Paperwork Potentially Puts Patients at Risk: New Mexico VAMC Reuses Medical Devices without Documenting Proper Cleaning
In the latest episode of Veteran Oversight Now, a VA OIG healthcare inspection hotline director discusses findings at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where there was no documentation of required reusable medical device reprocessing, which put patients at risk for infection if the reusable medical devices used during subsequent procedures were, in fact, not cleaned per requirements. The VA OIG also found that high-level disinfection documentation was missing and made seven recommendations related to oversight of the medical center’s Sterile Processing Service. This episode also includes highlights of the VA OIG’s work from July 2024. “If it’s [medical device] not documented properly and it’s not documented in the system so that we can track the cleaning, the disinfecting, the sterilization, then we don’t know if it’s processed appropriately.” – Trina Rollins, VA Office of Inspector General, Office of Healthcare Inspections, Hotline Director Related Report: Deficiencies in Documentation of Reusable Medical Device Reprocessing and Failures in VISN 22 Oversight of Sterile Processing Service at the Raymond G. Murphy VAMC in Albuquerque, New Mexico
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22:36
Inadequate Care Coordination at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System in Las Vegas
In the latest episode of Veteran Oversight Now, a VA OIG healthcare inspection hotline director discusses allegations that facility staff at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System in Las Vegas delayed ordering medications following an elderly patient’s discharge from a community hospital. The OIG substantiated that inadequate care coordination led to a delay in ordering discharge medications and found deficiencies in facility staff's response to the patient’s death by suicide. “If you go by the timeline, this is 17 days after the patient’s first visit to the emergency room with the shortness of breath problems. . . . Unfortunately, the patient completed suicide that same day without receiving the medication.” – Trina Rollins, VA Office of Inspector General, Office of Healthcare Inspections, Hotline Director This podcast edition also includes highlights of the VA OIG’s work from June 2024. Related Report: Care Concerns and Failure to Coordinate Community Care for a Patient at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System in Las Vegas
Veteran Oversight Now is an official podcast of the Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of Inspector General. Each episode features interviews with key stakeholders, discussions on high-impact reports, and highlights of recent oversight work. Listen regularly for the inside story on how the VA OIG investigates crimes and wrongdoings, audits programs that provide benefits and services to veterans, and inspects medical facilities to ensure our nation’s veterans receive safe and timely health care.
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