Inspection of the VA Regional Office New York, NY

The Benefits Inspection Division conducted an onsite inspection at VA Regional Office (VARO) New York to review disability compensation claims processing and Veterans Service Center (VSC) operations. We found the VARO staff correctly established dates of claim in the electronic record. VARO performance was generally effective in processing herbicide exposure-related claims and correcting errors identified by the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Systematic Technical Accuracy Review program staff. However, the VARO lacked effective controls and accuracy in processing some disability claims. Some of the identified inaccuracies resulted when staff did not schedule future medical reexaminations as required, as well as from staff using insufficient medical examinations to make final disability determinations. Overall, VARO staff did not accurately process 30 (31 percent) of the 98 disability claims we reviewed. The VARO instituted a new practice to improve claims processing accuracy to support rating decisions. We noted the reallocation of staff to a high priority national project resulted in untimely final competency determinations. We recommended VARO management strengthen controls over processing Notices of Disagreements, completing Systematic Analysis of Operations, handling mail, and completing final competency determinations timely. The VARO Director concurred with our recommendations.