Veterans die after being placed on VA Hospital’s secret waiting list

The secret list was part of an elaborate scheme designed by Veterans Affairs managers in Phoenix who were trying to hide that 1,400 to 1,600 sick veterans were forced to wait months to see a doctor, according to a recently retired top VA doctor and several high-level sources.

For six months, CNN has been reporting on extended delays in health care appointments suffered by veterans across the country and who died while waiting for appointments and care. But the new revelations about the Phoenix VA are perhaps the most disturbing and striking to come to light thus far.

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Tears, angry accusations mark hearing on delayed VA care, deaths

The CNN investigative piece found that at least 19 veterans died because of delays in simple medical screenings like colonoscopies or endoscopies at various VA facilities, according to an internal agency document.

They were among 82 people who have died or are dying or have suffered serious injuries as a result of delayed diagnosis or treatment for colonoscopies or endoscopies.

"This is an outrage! This is an American disaster!" Rep. Jackie Walorski, an Indiana Republican, nearly screamed, her voice quavering.

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Outrage as V.A. hides names of hospitals where vets died from delays

CNN reported in January that 19 veterans died as a result of delayed gastrointestinal cancer screenings, while another 63 were seriously injured. CNN obtained internal documents from the VA listing the number of “institutional disclosures of adverse events”—the bureaucratic phrase for a mistake that gravely harms or kills a patient.

However, the documents did not list the names of the hospitals and clinics where the deaths took place. When Altman asked VA for the names of the hospitals, he was told he would have to file a FOIA request. His subsequent FOIA request was denied.

"The VA needs to drop the secrecy routine and remember it’s a tax-funded organization that should conduct itself in as transparent a manner as possible without encroaching on patient confidentiality"” the Tampa Tribune wrote in an editorial Thursday.

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Veterans Health Care: Tools to Predict Hospital Readmissions Perform Poorly

Imprecise risk assessment is limiting the ability of acute care hospitals to identify patients at risk for repeat stays and respond to new federal regulations that will base reimbursement on their ability to minimize readmissions.

Internist Devan Kansagara, MD, and colleagues from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Portland, Orgeon, have issued a harsh critique of administrative tools designed for this role. Their evaluation of published studies on the subject identified few risk-prediction models for hospital readmission that have been deemed suitable for clinical or administrative use.

Medicare and Medicaid recently began to publicly disclose hospital readmission rates as a measure of quality hospital care. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services intends to lower reimbursement rates for hospitals with high readmission rates.

The authors conclude that more research is needed to better understand the causes and possible ways to prevent readmissions. Models that draw information from medical records or patient reports show potential, although the relative effects of various types of patient data and psychosocial factors on readmission have yet to be well understood.

"Although in certain settings such models may prove useful, better approaches are needed to assess hospital performance in discharging patients, as well as to identify patients at great risk of avoidable readmission," the authors write.

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Veterans Health Care -The James A. Haley VA Medical Center: Tampa VA hospital apologizes to veterans for 'miscommunication'

Veterans interviewed by the Times for the Oct. 16 story complained appointments with non-VA doctors have been canceled because of Haley's budget problems. Some noted instances in which Haley refused to pay for outside medical care.

"We have contacted those veterans who contacted you and apologized for any miscommunication that our veterans received," Haley spokeswoman Carolyn Clark said.

But interviews with most of the veterans or their families indicate the VA has not offered to remedy any of the problems they discussed in the story.

Haley officials have steadfastly denied any cuts in its fee basis program. But hospital officials refuse to discuss two internal memos obtained by the Times showing Haley officials in July 2011 were restricting the program to emergencies.

The new policy, he said, limited followup visits to outside doctors from a year to six months after surgery.

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