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MWD-76-104 1 (1976-03-04)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaaeel0001 and id is 1 raw text is: COMPTROLLER GNRLOF THE UNITED STATES 3-47 . WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 C7 3 tb(9 1976 B-1323044 Acco~untn' ci C7 qp en ,-a ,~ of specifc aproval by the Oce of a record of which ils kept by ithe DlstictLon ectior, rublcaons Branch, DAB The Honorable Floyd K. Haskell United States Senate Dear Senator Haskell: In your March 17, 1975, letter and subsequent discussions with your office, we were requested to obtain information on the following aspects of the administration of the Denver Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital: --Emergency and monitoring procedures. --Medical records system and physician access to records. --Staff levels and qualifications of those rendering direct patient care. You were particularly interested in these matters as they relate to ambulatory, (outpatient) care. Ambulatory care has greatly increased at the Denver hospital because of (1) the hospital management's decision to emphasize such care as part of a test of a new patient admission procedure and (2) legislation increasing substantially the number of veter- ans eligible for such care. Because of the increased number of veterans being treated, the hospital's ambulatory care service has had problems of insufficient space and staff and inadequate operating procedures to handle the workload. The increased volume of veterans receiving ambulatory care has also affected other hospital services, such as nursing and diagnostic support. The staff rendering direct patient care is well qualified, but the quality of both in- patient and ambulatory services provided was sometimes less than adequate because of insufficient staff, particularly nursing personnel and, to a lesser degree, physicians and technicians. We also observed problems in the hospital's medical records system. MWD-76-104 ~O9Oe~