GAO: VA Failed to Report Nearly 90 Percent of Dangerous Medical Providers

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) did not report some 90 percent of possibly dangerous medical providers — a failure that endangered the lives of patients coast to coast, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says.

The conclusion comes in a bombshell report to be issued Monday by the GAO, USA Today reports.

The newspaper says the GAO found that the VA's negligence to place the names of dubious providers in a national database allowed some to cross state lines and provide substandard care elsewhere.

The findings are based on a sampling of five unidentified VA hospitals, according to USA Today.

"At one facility, we found that officials failed to report six providers to the (national database) because the officials were unaware that they had been delegated responsibility for…reporting," the GAO said in its report.

As well, the GAO found that all five hospitals "lacked at least some documentation of the reviews they told us they conducted, and in some cases, the required reviews were not conducted at all."

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