Healthcare Inspection Alleged Quality of Care Issues Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System Little Rock, Arkansas

The VA Office of Inspector General reviewed allegations regarding quality of care complaints in the emergency department (ED) at the Central Arkansas Veterans Health Care System, Little Rock, Arkansas. We did not substantiate that the patient was inadequately diagnosed and treated for severe abdominal pain. We found that clinicians appropriately treated the patient’s pain and ordered the correct treatments based on laboratory and imaging tests. We did not substantiate that the patient was placed in a locked room where no one checked on him for over 6 hours. The patient was discharged and allowed to sleep in a bed adjacent to the ED because he had no transportation home until the next morning. Staff checked on him several times during the night. We were unable to substantiate or refute that someone told the patient’s wife he had been discharged but they did not know where he was located. To reinforce effective communication with families, the Medical Center Director issued a memorandum while we were onsite. We made no recommendations.