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Open Recommendations

VA Equal Employment Opportunity: Increased Attention Needed to Improve Program Effectiveness
GAO-23-105429
Sep 12, 2023
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8 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Veterans Affairs The Secretary of VA should finalize the I-DEA dashboard and use the data in the dashboard to regularly conduct trend analysis of internal and other data on perceived experiences of discrimination. Such analyses should pinpoint problematic locations, guide preventive efforts, and incorporate available data from VA's All Employee Survey; EEO and Harassment Prevention Program data; and information from other internal and external data collection efforts and assess trends down to the facility level. (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 Secretary of VA should ensure that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management, Diversity and Inclusion assesses and addresses any potential risks to the independence of the agency's EEO program, including the Harassment Prevention Program. (Recommendation 2)
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 Secretary of VA should ensure that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management, Diversity and Inclusion assesses the factors that increase the time it takes to implement the terms of final decisions in cases where discrimination is found and develops a plan to ensure these final decisions are implemented in a timely manner. (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 Secretary of VA should ensure that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management, Diversity and Inclusion develops a strategic workforce plan that incorporates internal stakeholder feedback in order to meet its programmatic functions and goals. (Recommendation 4)
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 Secretary of VA should ensure that the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution Management, Diversity and Inclusion regularly conducts analyses of VA workforce data to identify barriers to employment in the VA workforce; develop action plans for all identified barriers; and annually report on progress on implementing action plans. (Recommendation 5)
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 Secretary of VA should ensure that the Assistant Secretary for Human Resources & Administration/Operations, Security and Preparedness collects and analyzes information on facilities' hiring and promotion selection panel processes and addresses any findings from this analysis. This should include action plans with timeframes to address any deficiencies identified and sharing best practices. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

VA Health Care: Office of Rural Health Would Benefit from Improved Communication and Developing Performance Goals
GAO-23-105855
May 04, 2023
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Veterans Affairs The Director of the Office of Rural Health should develop a policy requiring resource centers to communicate their available research funding opportunities across VA. (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 Director of the Office of Rural Health should develop performance goals that reflect leading practices, such as being objective, measurable, quantifiable, and linked to other strategic plan components. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

VA Health Care: Improved Data, Planning, and Communication Needed for Infrastructure Modernization and Realignment
GAO-23-106001
Mar 20, 2023
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Veterans Affairs The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should develop specific actions that address the data gaps identified by GAO and others and identify time frames for completing such actions to help ensure that future market assessments fully account for the department's key considerations. (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 Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct VA's leadership team to develop a formal, documented plan that identifies its structure and an implementation strategy for its efforts to modernize and realign the department's infrastructure to help ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of these efforts. (Recommendation 2)
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 Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct its leadership team to finalize its communication approach, such as by developing, documenting, and disseminating how it will increase communication and transparency with internal and external stakeholders, including specifying how and when communication should occur. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Veterans Health Care: VA Actions Needed to Ensure Timely Scheduling of Specialty Care Appointments
GAO-23-105617
Jan 04, 2023
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3 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Veterans Affairs
Priority Rec.
This is a priority recommendation.
The Undersecretary for Health should develop a timeliness standard for the number of days within which veterans' appointments with VHA facility providers should occur. (Recommendation 1)
Open
VA agreed with our recommendation. In February 2023, VA said that it is developing metrics for the timeliness of care that will align with the access standards that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has for community care of 20 days for primary care and mental health and 28 days for specialty care. Officials indicated that these metrics will serve as a source of additional information used in VHA's efforts to improve access, but that they do not plan to use them as standards to assess VA medical centers' performance on appointment timeliness. Officials stated that VHA will continue to assess the feasibility of developing a timeliness standard with stakeholders. To implement this recommendation, VHA needs to develop a standard, which could be informed by available data on specialty care appointment timeliness.
Department of Veterans Affairs The Undersecretary of Health should conduct a comprehensive analysis of appointment scheduling data from all VAMCs to determine whether the community care timeliness standards are achievable and revise them as necessary. (Recommendation 2)
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 Undersecretary of Health should require referring providers and RCT clinical reviewers to complete the role-based Referral Coordination Initiative training that VHA developed and track completion of the training to ensure familiarity with its updated scheduling process for VHA facility and community care appointments. (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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