profession
Oversight sought for VA med centers' physician credentialing program
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 8, 2010
An investigation by the Government Accountability Office of six Veterans Affairs medical centers found that the centers failed to monitor consistently the credentials of physicians who practiced at the facilities.
Of 180 physician files reviewed by the GAO, 29 lacked evidence of proper verification of state licenses. The investigation was prompted by federal findings of quality breaches at the Marion, Ill., Veterans Affairs Medical Center surgical unit that resulted in at least nine patient deaths between 2006 and 2007.
Although the GAO said it had not uncovered any problems as serious as those found at the Marion facility, it recommended that the VA develop an oversight process to make sure that policies to monitor physicians' performances are followed and that any identified failures are corrected. The January report is available online (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/02/08/prbf0208.htm.
