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VA health care, improvements needed to the monitoring of antidepressant use for major depressive disorder and the accuracy of suicide data
testimony before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Veterans' Affairs, House of Representatives
Improvements needed to the monitoring of antidepressant use for major depressive disorder and the accuracy of suicide data
Veterans Affairs health care, improvements needed to the monitoring of antidepressant use for major depressive disorder and the accuracy of suicide data
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations,
1 online resource (13 pages) : color illustrations.
"In 2013, VA estimated that about 1.5 million veterans required mental health care, including for MDD. MDD is a debilitating mental illness related to reduced quality of life and increased risk for suicide. VA also plays a role in suicide risk assessment and prevention. This testimony addresses the extent to which (1) veterans with MDD who are prescribed an antidepressant receive recommended care and (2) VAMCs are collecting information on veteran suicides as required by VA. The testimony is based on GAO's November 2014 report, VA Health Care: Improvements Needed in Monitoring Antidepressant Use for Major Depressive Disorder and in Increasing Accuracy of Suicide Data (GAO-15-55). For that report GAO analyzed VA data, interviewed VA officials, and conducted site visits to six VAMCs selected based on geography and population served. GAO also reviewed randomly selected medical records for five veterans from each of the six VAMCs, for veterans diagnosed with MDD and prescribed an antidepressant in 2012, as well as all completed BHAP templates. The results cannot be generalized across VA. GAO followed up in May 2015 to determine the status of GAO's previous recommendations"--Preliminary page.
Background -- Veterans in our review often did not receive recommended care, and VA lacks methods to track whether recommended care is provided -- Data VA collects on veteran suicides were not always complete, accurate, or consistent.