GAO Report: Military Medical Treatment Facilities Need to Improve Clinical Adverse Action Process

The Defense Health Agency (DHA) has a clinical adverse action process that is used to address concerns about the quality of care provided by healthcare providers. This process involves investigating complaints and, if necessary, implementing restrictions or prohibitions on the care a provider can deliver. In a review of 55 clinical adverse action cases at four military medical treatment facilities, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that certain requirements were not consistently followed.

One of the findings was that in over one-third of the cases reviewed, the facilities did not adhere to the DHA’s mandate to establish a deadline for the investigation of a provider. Additionally, the GAO noted that DHA did not consistently report providers within the required time frames. As a result of their assessment, the GAO has made six recommendations for improvement, including enhancing monitoring procedures and setting timeliness requirements for various stages of the clinical adverse action process.

Implementing these recommendations will help DHA strengthen its oversight and management of clinical adverse action cases, ensuring that providers are held accountable and that patients receive high-quality care. This will ultimately contribute to maintaining the standards of care within military medical treatment facilities and upholding the trust and confidence of service members and their families in the healthcare system.