Ernst, Cassidy call on VA to ensure quality care for U.S. veterans

U.S. Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) urged the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to take corrective action that guarantees quality medical care for the nation’s military veterans.

“We write in response to a troubling report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which found that Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities lack adequate safeguards to ensure that veterans are not treated by providers who have a history of adverse actions against them related to providing substandard patient care, endangering public safety, substance misuse, or unprofessional conduct,” the senators wrote in an Oct. 3 letter sent to Dr. Richard Stone, executive in charge at the VHA.

Sens. Ernst and Cassidy, along with Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), requested that Stone “take immediate action to correct this issue and to ensure quality care for veterans who have sacrificed much in the brave defense of our freedoms.”

Among numerous problems, the GAO report found that VHA facilities lack “a properly designed and uniformly implemented provider credentialing system across the 18 Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs).”

“Although VHA officially requires the verification of credentials through the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) before a practitioner can provide care to veterans, the report revealed disturbing lapses and inconsistencies in adherence to this policy,” the senators wrote, adding that “the report details that staff responsible for the implementation of these credentialing standards were unaware of the standards in at least five facilities.”

Sens. Ernst, Cassidy, and their colleagues requested that Stone provide detailed information about the steps it will take to address the problem.

“As the leader of the VHA, you are responsible for ensuring that all providers are properly credentialed to provide veterans with the highest quality care,” they wrote.

The senators requested that Stone respond by Nov. 1 to several questions regarding implementation of mandatory, periodic training on proper credentialing practices, and to provide a written report to Congress by Dec. 31 that details specific content related to those credentialing practices, among other required information.