About 25% of urgent imaging exams were not completed in a timely manner at Veterans Health Administration facilities, fueled by staffing and equipment shortages and shoddy scheduling, among other factors.
That’s according to a bombshell new report from the VA Office of the Inspector General (OIG), released on Tuesday Oct. 10. Another 17% of routine examinations were not scheduled promptly, with staffers often failing to follow routine radiology policies for cancellation.
All told, the VA nixed tens of thousands of orders for diagnostic imaging, delaying care for weeks and jeopardizing the health of some patients, USA today reported. In one instance, a vet waited 42 days for an MRI after a CT scan found a lesion in his brain, when it should have been conducted within a week.
The OIG’s audit corroborates a previous USA Today investigation in 2018, which noted that more than 250,000 radiology orders across the VA had been canceled since 2016.
Auditors found that most follow-up care was completed appropriately. The report includes several recommendations, such as routinely auditing canceled exams and following up. Officials said they’ve worked diligently to address these deficiencies.
"Our office has expended considerable resources and time to develop solutions to the concerns raised," the national VA radiology office said in a written response to the audit.
You can read the entire USA Today report below, or find the OIG’s report here.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.