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Open Recommendations

Defense Health Care: Information Needed to Improve Monitoring of Military Personnel Staffing at Medical Facilities

GAO-25-106988
Jul 21, 2025
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7 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, in coordination with the Director, DHA, evaluates activity codes used in DHA's timecard system to determine which ones will count towards expectations for medical facility work time versus those that will not. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs works to categorize military medical personnel working within medical facilities within its monitoring tool with a variable to identify them by personnel category (e.g., exclusive, dual-assigned, periodic-intermittent). (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director, DHA, develops and disseminates a clear and consistent communication strategy, geared toward medical personnel from the military departments, to increase their understanding of the importance of timecard data and how it is used. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Director, DHA, analyzes and addresses root causes of data quality issues with military medical facility timecard data and implements any findings. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Army The Secretary of the Army should issue a policy requiring all military medical personnel to complete a timecard when working in a medical facility. (Recommendation 5)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy should issue a policy requiring all military medical personnel to complete a timecard when working in a medical facility. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Comparative Effectiveness Research: HHS Should Evaluate Its Performance of Related Activities

GAO-25-107462
Jul 14, 2025
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of HHS should complete an evaluation of the dissemination and implementation portfolio efforts supported by the Trust Fund, as planned, including developing and implementing near-term goals and associated performance measures to regularly assess performance. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

VA and DOD Health Care: Agreements to Share Services and Other Resources Should Be Evaluated

GAO-25-107497
Jun 30, 2025
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5 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel & Readiness should finalize procedures that include guidance on developing non-reimbursable sharing agreements, including instructions on how to develop a required justification through a business case analysis plan, and provide the procedures to its DOD facilities. (Recommendation 1).
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs The VA Under Secretary for Health should work with DOD to implement a process for evaluating the effectiveness of all its sharing agreements and use the results to make changes as appropriate. Such a process should include establishing performance goals, establishing performance measures, and collecting data to assess progress towards these goals. (Recommendation 2).
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs should work with VA to implement a process for evaluating the effectiveness of all its sharing agreements and use the results to make changes as appropriate. Such a process should include establishing performance goals, establishing performance measures, and collecting data to assess progress towards these goals. (Recommendation 3).
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Veterans Affairs The VA Under Secretary for Health should work with DOD to develop and implement a systematic process for identifying opportunities for new and expanded sharing agreements (Recommendation 4).
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Defense The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs should work with VA to develop a systematic process for identifying opportunities for new and expanded sharing agreements (Recommendation 5).
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Military to Civilian Transition: Actions Needed to Ensure Effective Mental Health Screening at Separation

GAO-25-107205
Jun 05, 2025
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
VA-DoD Joint Executive Committee The VA-DOD Joint Executive Committee should ensure that the joint SHA's alcohol use screen is validated. This could include taking steps to validate the joint SHA's existing screen or replacing it with an already validated one. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
VA-DoD Joint Executive Committee The VA-DOD Joint Executive Committee should ensure that the joint SHA's PTSD screen is validated. This could include taking steps to validate the joint SHA's existing screen or replacing it with an already validated one. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
VA-DoD Joint Executive Committee The VA-DOD Joint Executive Committee should assess whether to include violence risk screening in the joint SHA and take appropriate action based on this assessment. Possible actions could include taking steps to validate the joint SHA's existing questions, replacing them with a different validated tool, or removing the questions, as appropriate. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

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