In a newly released report attached below, GAO found that,
Officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DOD) Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC) have continued to make progress implementing provisions of the Executive Agreement’s 12 integration areas, but delays in the information technology (IT) area have proven costly.
GAO also found that,
Although they are required by the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2010 to assess the FHCC at the end of the 5-year demonstration, VA and DOD officials said the departments have not yet established an evaluation plan. Officials told GAO that in addition to the performance data already being collected from 15 integration benchmarks established by the Executive Agreement, the departments also expect to consider other factors; however, these factors, which may include performance measures, have not yet been established. VA and DOD officials also have not yet established the standards, such as target scores for the benchmarks, the departments will use to evaluate FHCC performance. GAO has previously found that well-defined measures and standards are essential to a sound evaluation plan. Furthermore, without VA and DOD agreement on the measures and standards, FHCC leadership is unable to track progress and make any midcourse adjustments to improve performance in areas VA and DOD have determined are necessary for the FHCC’s success. Although including measures of FHCC costs in the evaluation would be consistent with the FHCC’s purpose, VA and DOD departmental priorities, and federal financial accounting standards, no such cost measures have been established for evaluating the FHCC.
GAO’s recommendations
GAO recommends that VA and DOD (1) determine the costs associated with the workarounds required because of delays in implementing IT capabilities laid out in the FHCC Executive Agreement; (2) develop plans with clear definitions, specifications, deliverables, and time frames for IT capabilities required by the Executive Agreement but not yet defined; (3) develop and agree to an evaluation plan, to include all performance measures and standards to be used in evaluating the FHCC demonstration; and (4) establish measures related to the cost-effectiveness of the FHCC as part of their evaluation. VA and DOD generally concurred and noted steps to address GAO’s recommendations.
GAO.VA-DOD FEDERAL HEALTH CARE CENTER
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