United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1997-09-17 monographic deposited born digital 40 p. GA 1.13:HEHS-97-178 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-97-178 P0b002ee18038bf7e f:he97178 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-HEHS-97-178 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-HEHS-97-178 HEHS-97-178 Health resources utilization Veterans hospitals Monitoring Hospital care services Patient care services Veterans benefits Health care programs Health services administration VA Veterans Integrated Service Network VA Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation System Medicare Program Letter Report HEHS Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA): (1) implementation of the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation System (VERA); (2) monitoring of changes in health care delivery resulting from VERA; and (3) oversight of the network allocation process used to give veterans equitable access to services.<p/>GAO found that: (1) VERA shows promise for correcting long-standing regional funding imbalances that have impeded veterans' equitable access to services; (2) specifically, VERA allocates more comparable amounts of resources to the 22 networks for high-priority VA health service users--those with service-connected disabilities, low incomes, or special health care needs--than the resource allocation process it has replaced; (3) as a result, if fully implemented as planned, VERA could substantially shift funding among regions by fiscal year (FY) 1999; (4) in addition, VA continues to explore ways to improve VERA's capacity to more equitably allocate resources in the future; (5) among the improvements being considered are better measures of network workloads and adjustments for justifiable differences in network costs for providing health services; (6) although it is early in VERA's implementation, VA headquarters has not established an adequate monitoring system to identify changes in workload and medical practices that could negatively affect allocation equity and the appropriateness of care that veterans receive; (7) in addition, VA headquarters lacks the information to adequately review networks' planned facility services; (8) Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISN) that GAO contacted are using varying methods to allocate resources to facilities; (9) for example, some VISNs allocate resources on the basis of the number of veterans using a facility; others negotiate changes in funding for programs or services from the preceding FY to reach a new allocation; (10) VISNs, however, lack criteria on how to develop methods to give veterans equitable access; (11) to address these deficiencies, GAO has identified corrective actions for VA to take to enhance its ability to ensure that resources are allocated to improve veterans' equitable access to health care services and ensure that the care received is appropriate; and (12) these actions include improving the timeliness and thoroughness of overseeing changes in health care delivery resulting from the allocation process to the networks and to the facilities. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-97-178/html/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-97-178.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-97-178/pdf/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-97-178.pdf GAO/HEHS-97-178 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-97-178 Letter Report GAO/HEHS-97-178; VA Health Care: Resource Allocation Has Improved, But Better Oversight Is Needed; Health resources utilization Veterans hospitals Monitoring Hospital care services Patient care services Veterans benefits Health care programs Health services administration VA Veterans Integrated Service Network VA Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation System Medicare Program Public Law 104-204 Public Law 104-262 Public Law 105-33