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Inspector General Reviews VA IT Programs

December 6, 2010 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released their semiannual Congressional report covering the last 6 months of the VA's IT progress. The report gave both highs and lows of the VA's IT programs relating to development and progress.

Some of the VA's IT programs were celebrated as over the last 6 months, they reportedly saved somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.2 billion at time same time as avoiding unnecessary costs and financial benefits. The same report, however, took issue with the speed at which the VA was developing some of their other IT programs.

Additionally, the OIG took issue with some of the VA's IT and contracting programs. Their issues revolved around:

• The Financial and Logistics Integrated Technology Enterprise program for strategic asset management suffered from useless cost controls and performance schedules, which could render the program ineffective;
• Lack of security protections and supervision in Teleradiology contracts; and
• The VA being 2 years behind schedule in issuing employees secure credentials under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12.

Six hundred and eighty-two of the OIG's preceding recommendations made to the VA were still awaiting correction. Of those, 76 were at least a year old. Over the entire year of 2009, the Veterans Health Administration overpaid $120 million (net) in payments for veteran health care at non-VA medical centers. Over the next 5 years, that number will likely top $600 million if no change is made within the payment process for these services.

The OIG did make some recommendations on how to counter rising costs in its report. The report covered April 1^st through September 30^th and was published at the end of November.