In a report released on January 6, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) cited deficiencies in credentialing, privileging, and continuous monitoring of physicians at medical centers run by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The GAO report (http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d1026.pdf ) is based on visits to 6 VA medical centers and follows events at the agency's Marion, Ill, facility, where an unusually high rate of surgical deaths was identified in 2006 and 2007.
Although the GAO did not uncover problems at the 6 medical centers that reached the extent of trouble at the Marion facility, it found that staff did not consistently follow credentialing and privileging policy requirements. For example, of 180 credentialing and privileging files reviewed by the GAO, 29 lacked proper verification of state medical licensure and 21 files did not have disclosures by physicians of required malpractice information.
The GAO recommended that the VA develop a formal mechanism to systematically review credentialing and privileging files and performance monitoring for compliance with the agency's policies.
Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature
Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal
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