Since 01-06-06
VA help lines found to regularly provide wrong information
Since 01-06-06
From:
Waspscpo@aol.com [mailto:Waspscpo@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 4:17 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: VA help lines found to regularly provide wrong information
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/13518366.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
http://scoop.agonist.org/story/2005/12/31/124051/91
Posted on Fri, Dec. 30, 2005
VA help lines found to regularly provide wrong information
By Chris Adams
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - A veteran who turns to the Department of Veterans Affairs for
information about benefits might want to get a second opinion. According to the
VA's own data, people who call the agency's regional offices for help and advice
are more likely to receive completely wrong answers than completely right ones.
To see how well its employees answer typical questions from the public, VA
benefits experts in 2004 called each of the agency's U.S. regional offices,
which process veterans' disability claims. The so-called mystery callers, saying
they were relatives or friends of veterans inquiring about possible benefits,
made a total of 1,089 calls.
Almost half the time they got answers that the VA said were either completely
incorrect or minimally correct. According to an internal VA memo on the
mystery-caller program that's buried deep in the department's Web site, 22
percent of the answers the callers got were "completely incorrect," 23 percent
were "minimally correct" and 20 percent were "partially correct." Nineteen
percent of the answers were "completely correct," and 16 percent were "mostly
correct."
The program also found that some VA workers were dismissive of some callers and
unhelpful or rude to others. One caller, for example, said, "My father served in
Vietnam in 1961 and 1962. Is there a way he can find out if he was exposed to
Agent Orange?" The VA's response, according to the VA memo: "He should know if
they were spreading that chemical out then. He would be the only one to know. OK
(hung up laughing)."
The memo said the response was "completely incorrect" because it gave no
information - and also was "rude and unprofessional." The 2004 survey found
improvements in some categories compared with a similar study with identical
questions in 2002. Timeliness improved, but scores on "willingness to help" and
"courtesy/professionalism" dropped. VA workers also used "too much jargon,"
confusing to many veterans, the memo said.
VA officials acknowledge that the agency needs to do better. Daniel Cooper, the
department's top benefits official, said in a memo to the VA regional offices
that the results of the mystery-caller program "are below expectations and are
disappointing to the organization. ... We must be able to provide prompt service
and give correct answers with the courtesy and professionalism that our
customers deserve."
This week, VA officials said they'd taken steps since 2004 to improve their
performance, among other things setting up a small pilot program to monitor
employees silently as they answered veterans' questions. While the VA said the
pilot program improved performance, thus far it's been used in only four out of
57 regional offices. Other offices are scheduled to begin the silent monitoring
by the end of fiscal 2006.
Beyond that, the VA said it was working to improve its service by boosting
training and using role-playing exercises for some phone calls with the public.
Other quality-improvement programs are expected to be put into place in 2006 and
2007. Veterans across the country said their experience with VA call centers
suggested that there was still significant room for improvement.
"The VA needs a change of attitude," said William B. Jones, a veteran from
Greenville, S.C., who's been butting heads with the agency for several years.
Jones, a semiretired physician, said he'd received bad medical information and
repeatedly had gotten the runaround in his attempt to get compensation for
ailments that he said were linked to his military service. "I often get no
answer at all," said Jones. "I call their 1-800 numbers and generally you get a
computer and talk to no one. I've had that not once but probably a dozen times.
When you do talk to somebody, you get frustrated because you can't really find
out if the case is proceeding. They say they are working on it, but they don't
give any details." Responding to Jones' complaints, the VA said it "takes very
seriously any frustrations veterans may experience when attempting to contact
us. ... VA continues to work on ways to provide better access and quality
customer service."
The mystery callers also judged the courtesy, willingness to help and promptness
of the people who answered the VA's phones. They found that many VA offices were
helpful and friendly - even as they provided bum information. Bum information,
however, is the biggest problem. One mystery caller, for example, asked about
benefits after a Vietnam veteran died of lung cancer.
Many conditions have been linked to the herbicide Agent Orange, which was widely
used in Vietnam. But the VA regional office said lung cancer was "not one of the
conditions related to Agent Orange." According to the VA's evaluation, that
answer was "completely incorrect (wrong information given - lung cancer is one
of the conditions related to Agent Orange.)"
Another mystery caller asked about a grandfather who'd been injured in the
Korean War. "When he dies, is he eligible for burial in Arlington National
Cemetery?" the caller asked. Response: "I can't answer for Arlington. You can
call your congressmen. They love doing those kinds of things for their
constituents." The VA's evaluation: "Completely incorrect. ... Unprofessional;
unwilling to help."
Another mystery caller asked whether her husband could get help from the VA for
a back problem he'd had for years. "I don't know," the VA regional office said.
"He just has to file a claim." The evaluator found that the response was
completely incorrect because it didn't give an answer, and the VA official was
"discourteous" and "unwilling to help."
(may not be accessible now after this article was released)
To read the VA survey online, go to
www.warms.vba.va.gov/admin20/letters/vba04(underline)42.doc --- When callers
posing as veterans' friends or family members called the Department of Veterans
Affairs to ask questions about benefits, they often got incorrect and/or rude
responses. Some examples from a VA survey, along with VA experts' evaluations of
the responses:
CALLER: "My son served in Vietnam, and he just died of lung cancer. I have
custody of his 10-year-old daughter.
Are there any benefits for my granddaughter?"
RESPONSE: "What is your son's Social Security number?"
CALLER: "I don't have it."
RESPONSE: "Well, I can't help you if you don't give me any information. ... What
is your monthly income?"
CALLER: "About $200 a week."
RESPONSE: "Well, that sounds like it is awful high, and you wouldn't be
eligible."
VA EVALUATION: "Completely incorrect," because benefits might be available for
such a child.
The VA worker was also "very discouraging" and "didn't express empathy in recent
loss of son."
CALLER: "My husband just started going to college using the Voc-Rehab program,
and I was just wondering how long he has to use this program."
RESPONSE: "I don't know. He needs to ask his vocational rehabilitation counselor
the next time he talks with him."
VA EVALUATION: "Completely incorrect," because it didn't answer the question.
Also was "unprofessional and discourteous."
CALLER: "My brother is being discharged in two weeks from the Marine Corps. Are
there any veterans' preferences for state or federal jobs?"
RESPONSE: "No preference. Everyone is a veteran. With government, you get points
if you're a veteran. For a disabled veteran, there's points. Nothing out of the
ordinary."
EVALUATION: "Completely incorrect," because it gave the wrong information.
Also: "tone discourteous; unwilling to help."
CALLER: "My dad was killed in a training accident while on active duty just
before Desert Storm. Does the VA offer any benefits for me to go to college?"
RESPONSE: "Was your mother in receipt of benefits from the VA? ... Did your
father die on active duty? ... Well, if your mother was in receipt of benefits,
you would be eligible. But you're telling me that your mother was not in
receipt, so you are not entitled."
EVALUATION: "Completely incorrect" because the child would be entitled if his
father had died on active duty. Also: "tone was discourteous." Source: VA memo
on "2004 Mystery Caller" program. The memo is available online at
http://www.warms.vba.va.gov/admin20/letters/vba04_42.doc
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine, USN(ret)
Any man or
woman who may be asked in this century what they did to make life worthwhile in
their lifetime....can respond with a great deal of pride and satisfaction, "I
served a career in the United States Navy."