Inspection of VA Regional Office Atlanta, Georgia

We evaluated the Atlanta VARO to see how well it accomplishes its mission. We also assessed the merits of a complaint involving deceptive VARO mail management practices. We found VARO staff did not accurately process 34 (38 percent) of 90 disability claims reviewed. We sampled claims we considered at higher risk of processing errors, thus these results do not represent the overall accuracy of disability claims processing at this VARO. Claims processing that lacks compliance with VBA procedures can result in the risk of paying inaccurate and unnecessary financial benefits. Seventeen of 30 temporary 100 percent disability evaluations reviewed were inaccurate. Generally, the errors occurred because VARO staff did not take timely action on reminder notifications for medical reexaminations. VARO staff incorrectly processed 8 of 30 traumatic brain injury (TBI) claims because oversight was lacking to ensure staff complied with VBA’s second-signature policy. Further, staff incorrectly processed 9 of 30 special monthly compensation and ancillary benefits claims due to a lack of training. VARO managers ensured Systematic Analyses of Operations were complete, timely, and contained the analysis and recommendations needed to address deficiencies. However, VARO staff delayed completing 16 of 30 benefit reduction cases because management assigned staff to address other priorities. We did not substantiate anonymous allegations concerning deceptive mail management practices at the Atlanta VARO. We recommended the VARO Director develop and implement a plan to ensure staff take timely action on reminder notifications for medical reexaminations; review and take appropriate action on the 776 temporary 100 percent disability evaluations remaining from our inspection universe; ensure effective second-signature reviews and training on processing TBI, special monthly compensation, and ancillary benefits claims; and develop a plan to prioritize actions on benefit reduction cases. The VARO Director concurred with all recommendations and the planned corrective actions are responsive. We will follow up on these actions as deemed appropriate.