VA Health Care for Women

Despite Progress, Improvements Needed Gao ID: T-HRD-92-33 July 2, 1992

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has made significant progress during the past decade toward ensuring that veterans of both sexes have equal access to health care. Three problems remain, however. First, physical examinations, including cancer screenings for women veterans, continue to be sporadic. Second, VA medical centers are not adequately monitoring the quality of their in-house mammography programs. Third, inadequate accommodations for female patients--such as a lack of private rooms or toilets--may go unnoticed during VA medical center renovations due to inadequate procedures. GAO recommends that VA medical centers correct problems in providing complete physical examinations by disseminating information on successful practices and implementing them systemwide. VA agrees with GAO's findings and has taken steps to improve services for women veterans.



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