DOD and VA: Systematic Data Sharing Would Help Expedite Servicemembers' Transition to VA Services
Released: 2005-05-19T00:00:00

Letter

Background

Servicemembers deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq are surviving injuries that would have been fatal in past conflicts due, in part, to advances in battlefield medicine and protective equipment. However, the severity of their injuries can result in a lengthy transition from injured servicemember to veteran. Initially, most seriously injured servicemembers are brought to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for treatment. From there, they are usually transported to major MTFs in the United States. According to DOD officials, once stabilized and discharged from MTFs, servicemembers usually relocate closer to their homes or military bases and are treated as outpatients. At this point, the military generally begins to assess whether the servicemember will be able to remain in the military, a process that could take months to complete.

Faced with the need to provide benefits and services to a new generation of veterans with disabilities, VA formed an internal task force—the Seamless Transition Task Force—in August 2003 to develop and implement policies to improve the transition of injured servicemembers back to civilian life. Although the task force’s initial priority was to ensure the continuity of medical care for injured servicemembers as they transitioned from military to VA health care, it also coordinated efforts to ensure access to all other VA benefits, including vocational rehabilitation.

DOD has also supported transition assistance in various ways. For example, the VA/DOD Joint Executive Committee was established in February 2002 to promote collaboration between the two departments, including resolving obstacles to information sharing. The committee is chaired by the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. In addition, the Army— in cooperation with VA—established the Disabled Soldier Support System in April 2004 as an advocacy group and information clearinghouse to clarify the services available to disabled soldiers as they transition to civilian life. In addition, DOD participated at times on VA’s Seamless Transition Task Force.

Separation from the military and return to civilian life often entail the exchange of individually identifiable health data between DOD and VA. The exchange of these data must comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule, which became effective April 14, 2001. The Privacy Rule permits VA and DOD to share servicemembers’ health data under certain circumstances.

VA Has Taken Steps to Expedite Vocational Rehabilitation Services, but Lack of Systematic Data from DOD Poses a Challenge

VA has given priority consideration and assistance to seriously injured servicemembers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. In a September 2003 letter, VA asked its regional offices to coordinate with staff at MTFs in their areas to ascertain the identities, medical conditions, and military status of the seriously injured OEF/OIF servicemembers. VA specifically instructed regional offices to focus on servicemembers whose disabilities were definitely or likely to result in military separation. Minimally, this included servicemembers with injuries that had been classified as “very serious,” “serious,” or in a “special category.” In this letter, VA instructed its regional offices to assign a case manager to each seriously injured servicemember who applied for disability compensation. In addition, VA noted the particular importance of early intervention for those who were seriously injured and emphasized that seriously injured servicemembers applying for vocational rehabilitation should receive the fastest possible service. Moreover, VA reminded vocational rehabilitation staff that they can initiate evaluation and counseling and, in some cases, authorize training before a servicemember was discharged.

Since most seriously injured servicemembers are initially treated at major MTFs, VA has detailed staff to these facilities to identify and educate these servicemembers about VA services. These staff include VA social workers and disability compensation benefits counselors. At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where the largest number of seriously injured servicemembers has been treated, VA’s Washington, D.C. regional office has since 2001 also provided a vocational rehabilitation counselor to work with hospitalized patients, specifically to offer and provide vocational counseling and evaluation. The counselor reported attempting to contact all patients within 48 hours of their arrival and visited them routinely thereafter to establish rapport. Her primary mission is to work with servicemembers who will need to prepare for civilian employment, although she told us that her early intervention efforts could also help servicemembers who are able to remain in the military.

Staff at another regional office noted that they also advocate early intervention. These staff said that they try to contact servicemembers as soon as possible to establish rapport and provide vocational rehabilitation program information even before the servicemembers are physically ready to begin vocational rehabilitation. We previously reported on the importance of early intervention to maximize the work potential of individuals with disabilities. We reported, for example, that rehabilitation offered as close as possible to the onset of disabling impairments has the greatest likelihood of success.

Despite efforts by VA’s regional offices to identify and obtain medical information on seriously injured OEF/OIF servicemembers, lack of systematic data from DOD poses a challenge. Although VA requested in the spring of 2004 that DOD provide on a systematic basis personal identifying data, medical data, and DOD’s injury classification for seriously injured servicemembers, DOD and VA have not developed a data sharing agreement. In the absence of a data sharing agreement with DOD, VA cannot reliably identify all seriously injured servicemembers or know with certainty when they are medically stabilized, when they may be undergoing evaluation for a medical discharge, or when they are discharged from the military. As a result, VA cannot provide reasonable assurance that some seriously injured servicemembers who may benefit from vocational rehabilitation services have not been overlooked.

In our review of 12 VA regional offices, we found that the nature of the local relationship between VA staff and MTF staff was a key factor in the completeness and reliability of the information that the MTF provided on seriously injured servicemembers. For example, at one location, the MTF staff provided VA regional office staff with the names of new patients but no indication of the severity of their conditions or the combat theater from which they were returning. Another regional office reported receiving lists of servicemembers for whom the Army had initiated a medical separation in addition to lists of patients with information on the severity of their injuries. Some regional offices were able to capitalize on long-standing informal relationships. For example, the VA coordinator responsible for identifying and monitoring the seriously injured servicemembers at one regional office had served as an Army nurse at the local MTF and was provided all pertinent information.

VA staff at the 12 regional offices generally expressed confidence that the data sources they developed enabled them to identify most seriously injured servicemembers. However, we noted that informal data sharing relationships could break down with changes in personnel at either the MTF or the VA regional office. Several VA headquarters’ officials and regional office staff we interviewed said that systematic data from DOD would provide them with a way to reliably identify and follow up with seriously injured servicemembers. Additionally, VA officials said these data would help them plan for projected increases in services for newly returning OEF/OIF servicemembers.

Unresolved Issues Continue to Delay a Data Sharing Agreement

After more than 2 years of discussion, DOD and VA have not developed a data sharing agreement. Although DOD and VA officials agree that the HIPAA Privacy Rule permits the exchange of individually identifiable health data if the individual signs a proper authorization, the departments have not pursued this as an alternative to a data sharing agreement. DOD and VA officials said the departments want to pursue options under other provisions of the Privacy Rule that may permit them to exchange data without individual authorizations. However, DOD and VA differ in their understanding of HIPAA Privacy Rule provisions that govern the sharing of individually identifiable health data for servicemembers currently receiving treatment in MTFs without an authorization, and the extent to which the Privacy Rule would permit that exchange. DOD’s and VA’s inability to resolve these differences has impeded coming to an agreement on exchanging servicemembers’ individually identifiable health data.

Two examples help illustrate the different views of DOD and VA regarding the HIPAA Privacy Rule. First, the Privacy Rule permits covered entities that are also government agencies providing public benefits to disclose individually identifiable health data to each other when the programs serve the same or similar populations, and the disclosure is necessary to coordinate the covered functions of such programs or to improve administration and management related to the covered functions of the programs. VA officials have said they believe that this provision allows DOD to share servicemembers’ health data with VA because the departments serve the same or similar populations—active duty servicemembers who transition to veteran status. VA officials also said they believe that DOD and VA provide public benefits. In contrast, a DOD official who is responsible for implementation of the Privacy Rule does not agree that DOD and VA serve the same or similar populations or that DOD provides public benefits. This official said he believes that serving the same or similar populations means that servicemembers have a dual eligibility for both DOD and VA services. Although the official said that while some former servicemembers are dually eligible for DOD and VA services, not all qualify for both services simultaneously. This official also said that the services that DOD provides are not public benefits because they are unlike the examples of public benefits programs provided in the preamble to the Privacy Rule. The Privacy Rule does not define public benefits.

In the second example, the Privacy Rule explicitly permits the disclosure of individually identifiable health data by DOD to VA upon the separation or discharge of a servicemember in order to determine eligibility for VA benefits. DOD views “upon the separation or discharge” as referring to the separation process that varies by servicemember, but which begins with the decision by DOD that the servicemember will separate. According to VA officials, the HIPAA Privacy Rule would allow DOD to share data sooner than the decision by DOD that the servicemember will separate. However, DOD is reluctant to provide individually identifiable health data to VA until DOD is certain that a servicemember will separate from the military. DOD is concerned that VA’s outreach to servicemembers who are still on active duty could work at cross-purposes to the military’s retention goals. According to DOD officials, it would be premature for VA to begin working with servicemembers who may eventually return to active duty. VA contends that DOD could define the specific point of separation or discharge earlier in the process. In commenting on our January 2005 report, VA said that a memorandum of understanding was then being negotiated that would allow VA to obtain from DOD the servicemember’s medical information prior to discharge from military service. VA added that its Office of General Counsel was confident that there are exceptions in the Privacy Rule that would permit military service medical information to be disclosed for VA benefits purposes and that it had pressed the case with DOD’s General Counsel. As of May 17, 2005, the memorandum of understanding between DOD and VA has not been finalized.

Despite being unable to agree on an exchange of individually identifiable health data, DOD and VA are currently reviewing a draft memorandum of understanding. DOD and VA officials told us they believe that the memorandum of understanding will move the two departments closer to a data sharing agreement. However, we found that the draft memorandum of understanding restates many of the legal authorities contained in the Privacy Rule for the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health data. For example, the draft memorandum of understanding does not specify that individually identifiable health data of OEF/OIF servicemembers shall be disclosed and restates that data will be shared upon separation or discharge without further defining the specific point during the separation or discharge process when data can be shared. As a result, even if the memorandum of understanding is finalized, DOD and VA will still not have a data sharing agreement that specifies what types of individually identifiable health data can be exchanged and when the data can be shared.

Mr. Chairman, this completes my prepared remarks. I will be pleased to answer any questions you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have at this time.

Contact and Acknowledgments

For further information, please contact Cynthia A. Bascetta at (202) 512- 7101. Also contributing to this statement were Mary Ann Curran, Marcia Mann, Kevin Milne, and Janet Overton.

Related GAO Products

Vocational Rehabilitation: VA Has Opportunities to Improve Services, but Faces Significant Challenges. GAO-05-572T. Washington, D.C.: April 20, 2005.

VA Disability Benefits and Health Care: Providing Certain Services to the Seriously Injured Poses Challenges. GAO-05-444T. Washington, D.C.: March 17, 2005.

Vocational Rehabilitation: More VA and DOD Collaboration Needed to Expedite Services for Seriously Injured Servicemembers. GAO-05-167. Washington, D.C.: January 14, 2005.

Health Information: First-Year Experiences under the Federal Privacy Rule. GAO-04-965. Washington, D.C.: September 3, 2004.

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