February 26, 2014 - You may have seen recent news coverage alleging the mishandling of patient records by a VA medical facility in 2008. Some media reports on this issue have been inaccurate.VA did not destroy patients’ personal medical records in VA’s electronic health record system, which has been in place since the 1990s.
The Department of Veterans Affairs cares deeply for every Veteran we are privileged to serve. Our goal is to provide the best quality, safe and effective health care our Veterans have earned and deserve. VA has established a record of safe, exceptional health care that is consistently recognized by independent reviews and organizations.
Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert Petzel addressed questions from members of the House of Representatives today on this topic saying, “There was no attempt to eliminate records.” and that several hundred records were properly closed only after a thorough administrative review.
The Greater Los Angeles VA Medical did identify that there were large numbers of very old imaging requests in the system. As part of appropriate patient care processes and in accordance with nationally established VA guidelines, the medical center performed a carefully planned project of administratively clearing old imaging requests after an extensive review of each individual request. At no time were “group” close-outs of imaging studies completed.
If patients do not show for their appointment or do not respond to scheduling attempts, orders are eventually discontinued after 12 calendar months. This is in accordance with VA guidance. Any study older than a year would no longer have clinical relevance and patients would need to be reevaluated by their providers prior to performing the study. In no instance was a study not completed because of a scheduling issue.
Reasons for studies not being completed included: read more>>>
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