	Key Actions Remain to Ensure That VA Can Deliver Benefits and Health Care Into the Next Century

Like many organizations, VA faces the possibility of computer system  failures at the turn of the century due to incorrect information processing  relating to dates. To  address these areas and to reduce the likelihood of delayed or interrupted  benefits and health care services, we recommended that VA reassess its Y2K mission-critical efforts for the compensation and  pension online application and the Beneficiary Identification and  Record Locator Sub-System, as well as other information technology  initiatives, such as special projects, to ensure that the Y2K efforts have  adequate resources, including contract support, to achieve compliance  in time; establish critical deadlines for the preparation of business continuity  and contingency plans for each core business process or program  service so that mission-critical functions affecting benefits delivery can  be carried out even if software applications and commercial-off-the- shelf (COTS) products fail, including a description of resources, staff  roles, procedures, and timetables needed for implementation; and ensure rapid development of business continuity and contingency plans  for each medical facility so that mission-critical functions affecting  patient care can be carried out if software applications, COTS products,  and/or facility-related systems and equipment do not function properly,  including a description of resources, staff roles, procedures, and  timetables needed for implementation. Despite their importance, VHA has not yet completed its assessment of  facility systems. Its goal is to provide a  comprehensive, centralized source of information on the Y2K compliance  status of biomedical equipment used in the United States and make this  information publicly available on a web site. More recently, VHA’s Chief Biomedical Engineer told us that VHA medical  facilities are not requesting test results for critical care/life support  biomedical equipment; they also are not currently reviewing the test results  available on manufacturers’ web sites. VHA Pharmaceutical Operations Also Face Y2K Risks

Another critical component to VA’s ability to deliver health care at the turn  of the century is ensuring that the automated systems supporting VHA’s  medical facility pharmacies and its consolidated mail outpatient  pharmacies (CMOP) are Y2K compliant. For example, the CMOP  electronically receives a prescription for a veteran through the medical  center. VA Taking Action to Determine Y2K Readiness of Pharmaceutical and Medical-Surgical Manufacturers

VA, like other users of pharmaceutical and medical-surgical products,  needs to know whether it will have a sufficient supply of these items for its  customers. In summary, VBA and VHA continue to make progress in preparing their  mission-critical systems for the year 2000. Additional copies are $2 each.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) year 2000 readiness, focusing on: (1) VA's ability to deliver benefits and health care services through the turn of the century; and (2) the readiness of automated systems that support such delivery, the compliance status of biomedical equipment used in patient care, and the year 2000 readiness of the pharmaceutical and medical-surgical manufacturers upon which VA relies.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) VA continues to make progress in its year 2000 readiness; (2) however, key actions remain to be performed; (3) for example, the Veterans Benefits Administration and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) have not yet completed testing of their mission-critical systems to ensure that these systems can reliably accept future dates--such as January 1, 2000; (4) also, VHA has not completed assessments for its facility systems, which can be essential to ensuring continuing health care; (5) in addition, neither VA nor the Food and Drug Administration have implemented GAO's prior recommendation to review the test results for biomedical equipment used in critical care/life support environments; (6) further, VHA's pharmaceutical operations are at risk because the automated systems supporting its consolidated mail outpatient pharmacies are not year 2000 compliant; (7) VHA does not know if its medical facilities will have a sufficient supply of pharmaceutical and medical-surgical supplies on hand, because it does not have complete information on the year 2000 readiness of these manufacturers; and (8) it is critical that these concerns be addressed if VA is to continue to reliably deliver benefits and health care.