About (mumble, mumble, ahem) years ago I worked for the Veterans Administration and as part of the job I lead the team that designed and implemented an automated claims tracking and control system for veterans benefits. When a claim was received it was entered into our system and as the claim was worked the status of the claim was continually and automatically updated. At any time it was possible to see just where in the system the claim was, what was holding up processing and who was the responsible individual that had the claim sitting in their inbox. It replaced a manual system that was replete with errors and that had made it possible for people to manipulate the figures. At first management didn't like it since it showed that it was taking lots of time to complete a claim that they had previously been able to hide from review.
The system was so successful that it is still in use today, although I certainly hope they have updated it over the years since I retired. The medical side of the agency adapted the tracking concept and built their own version in order to track veterans health claims and both systems worked as designed...giving hones and direct answers to requests concerning individual claims status and providing statistical information for management and Congress.
When I designed the system we realized that the Achilles heel of all such systems was that if a claim (or request) was not entered when received the system failed to track. We depended on the basic honesty of employees and management to assure a complete and accurate reporting system. And for the most part it has worked. But there is always some individual (or office) that will take advantage of the system for their own ends. It appears that the Director of the VA Hospital in Phoenix did exactly that. She had employees withhold input date from the system in order to make the stats look better than they really are. From what I've read (and heard form friends in the Agency) she did the same thing at two previous hospitals she was assigned to.
Like the IRS employees who were caught cheating on their tax returns and who then received performance bonuses I suspect that this particular Hospital Director will be kicked upstairs to a management position at headquarters. And that all future reports and statistics from the Agency will be doubted by those who care. What was once a fine system has been debased by those who care not how things are, just so long as they look good.
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