Department of Veterans Affairs

Dod/va Care Transition Process for Service Members Injured in Oif / Oef Department of Veterans Affairs

On March 10, 2005, the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness requested the DoD Inspector General perform a review of the DoD/VA care transition process for Service members injured in OIF/OEF, including medical hold and medical holdover programs in each of the Services (see Appendix A). In May 2005, the DoD Assistant Inspector General for Inspections and Evaluations met with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Health Protection and Readiness to discuss project scope and identify objectives. Attendees agreed that the announced objectives would concentrate on the process, not individual cases, and address all Service components. Prior to announcing the project, the DoD IG team met with the VA Assistant Inspector General for Healthcare Inspections to form an interagency team. The combined approach facilitated the team?s access to DoD and VA facilities, records, and decision makers. A joint team also allowed for a systemic examination of the process across agency boundaries and the formulation of recommendations for both Departments. This report summarizes the results of the Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) Inspectors General (IG) interagency evaluation of the health care transition processes for Service members severely injured in Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF).