Healthcare Inspection Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Counseling Services at Vet Centers

The purpose of our inspection was to assess the quality of Readjustment Counseling Service (RCS) Vet Centers’ post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) counseling services to determine: (1) how Vet Centers screen clients for PTSD, (2) if documentation of clients’ treatment is in compliance with policy, and (3) if providers are trained to provide PTSD counseling services according to policy. We found that RCS Vet Center counselors utilized appropriate tools to screen clients for PTSD. Client treatment case file documentation improved from our FY 2009 report. Staff training also improved. Approximately 85 percent of Vet Center providers had attended RCS’ required training on PTSD, and 53 percent of the providers had attended Veterans Health Administration-sponsored PTSD training. In addition, some Vet Center providers received supplemental training in Evidence-Based Therapy (EBT), and most Vet Centers were providing EBT to PTSD clients. Although RCS made improvement from our previous review, we found that the Team Leaders were not consistently providing supervision and consultation to the Vet Center providers in accordance with RCS policy. We recommended that the Under Secretary for Health, in conjunction with the RCS Chief Officer: Ensure that Vet Center Team Leaders perform monthly provider’s record reviews, and provide supervision and consultation to providers in compliance with RCS policy. Ensure that corrective action is taken when supervision and consultation issues are identified through the annual clinical quality reviews.