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                         October 4, 2002

Vets at risk

n GAO report states poor information flow puts veterans at risk for medication errors

WASHINGTON (govexec) -- Vets who receive health care from both the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are at risk of receiving erroneously filled prescriptions with dangerous side effects, according to a new report by the General Accounting Office.

The report, "VA and Defense Health Care: Increased Risk of Medication Errors for Shared Patients" found that DoD and VA do not share patient records with one another, making it difficult for pharmacists at one department to know what patients are receiving from the other department.

"Checks for drug allergies and interactions are not complete because medications dispensed by the other agency will not be included in the check," said the report. More than 800,000 veterans are eligible for health care from both DoD and the VA, according to both departments.

Information sharing is even lacking at seven health care sites where DoD and the VA share space and services. Both departments maintain electronic systems that store patient histories, but these systems are not linked and often are only accessible to employees within the parent department.

The GAO recommended the departments open up their systems to one another. Both departments agreed, although they regard this consolidation as a long-term effort with several technical hurdles.

GAO officials said that both departments could take interim steps to improve information sharing before these technical issues are resolved.