United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2004-07-21 monographic deposited born digital 16 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-967T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-967T P0b002ee180383bf0 f:d04967t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-967T machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-967T GAO-04-967T Billing procedures Collection procedures Debt collection Government collections Health care costs Health care programs Health care services Health insurance Insurance companies Internal controls Veterans benefits Veterans hospitals Timeliness VA Revenue Action Plan Testimony A11022 In the face of growing demand for veterans' health care, GAO and the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) have raised concerns about the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) ability to maximize its third-party collections to supplement its medical care appropriation. GAO has testified that inadequate patient intake procedures, insufficient documentation by physicians, a shortage of qualified billing coders, and insufficient automation diminished VA's collections. In turn, the OIG reported that VA missed opportunities to bill, had billing backlogs, and did inadequate follow-up on bills. While VA has made improvements in these areas, GAO was asked to review internal control activities over third-party billings and collections at selected medical centers to assess whether they were designed and implemented effectively. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-967T/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-967T.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-967T/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-967T.pdf GAO-04-967T https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-967T Testimony GAO-04-967T; VA Medical Centers: Internal Control Weaknesses Impair Third-Party Collections; Billing procedures Collection procedures Debt collection Government collections Health care costs Health care programs Health care services Health insurance Insurance companies Internal controls Veterans benefits Veterans hospitals Timeliness VA Revenue Action Plan