Pain a Risk Management Issue



Pain a Risk Management Issue

Introduction

The Department of Veterans Affairs U.S. (United States Department of Veterans Affairs or VA) is a U.S. government administration in charge of everything related to veteran. It is responsible for pensions, health care and medical insurance, education programs and vocational rehabilitation or loan, maintenance of cemeteries, etc (Page, et.al, 1978). This department is headed by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs U.S. (United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs) who is a member of Cabinet. He is appointed by the President of the United States with the approval of Senate. The Administration of the Veterans Health is the regulatory body within the Department that is responsible for providing medical and hospital treatment to veterans. The Administration of the Veterans Health is responsible for the creation and management of hospitals and medical research projects similar to those hospitals and medical groups in a suit. There are a number of VA Medical Centers across the United States that have been created and are managed by the Administration of the Veterans Health (Stefani, et.al, 1980).

Discussion

The Veterans Administration, commonly known as VA, was founded July 21, 1930 to strengthen and coordinate government activities relating to veterans. The VA incorporated the functions previously performed by former U.S. Veterans' Bureau, Bureau of Pensions of the Interior Department and National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the national institution for the volunteer's war wounded. On October 25, 1988, President Reagan signed legislation creating a new Department of Veterans Affairs, with the rank of department of Cabinet to replace the Veterans Administration, new department which will be effective March 15, 1989. According to the Census Bureau United States, in 2000, the U.S. had over 26.4 million veterans, and in 2010, there were 22.1 million veterans (Draper, et.al, 2010).

The department acts as the single government payer for health care and is the second largest federal department after the Defense Department. With a budget of $ 70 billion, it employs approximately 280,000 people in hundreds of medical centers, hospitals and offices. It is divided into three branches, known to Administrations, each headed by an Assistant Secretary: the first is the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), which is responsible for providing health care in all its forms and also medical research (Page, et.al, 1978). Second is the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), which is responsible for the registration of veterans and rewards on five types of performance, including the guaranteed home loan, insurance, vocational rehabilitation and employment, education, remuneration and pensions (Stefani, et.al, 1980). The third and last branch is National Cemetery Administration, which is responsible for funeral and cemetery maintenance of veterans. All cemeteries are independent of the department and cemeteries abroad are managed by a small government agency, the American Battle Monuments Commission and the Arlington Cemetery by the Department of Defense (Dorn, et.al, 2009).

Risk management issues at Veteran Administration

The services provided to clients of Veterans Administration (VA) to United States are primarily acquired from a wide range of individual providers and organizations that provide these ...