WASHINGTON D.C. (WTAQ) – The U.S. Veterans Affairs’ agency Monday announced a new computer aide that will help doctors keep a closer tab on their patients’ use of prescription drugs.
The “Opioid Therapy Risk Report” was unveiled as the VA continues to investigate the alleged over-prescribing of painkillers at the VA Medical Center in Tomah. The program gives information about appropriate dosages for patients with symptoms of pain.
The VA’s acting secretary for health, Carolyn Clancy, said about 2,000 of the agency’s doctors throughout the country have access to the new computer program.
As Clancy put it, “We’re not waiting for reviews to be done, to improve how we do opioid safety.” She said the risk program “makes the right thing easy to do, and that’s the whole point.”
Clancy’s announcement comes on the same day that House and Senate committees said they would hold a joint hearing March 30th in Tomah. It will start at 1 p.m. that day, but an exact location has yet to be determined.
The heads of the House veterans’ panel and the Senate government affairs committee expect to hear from families of veterans treated at Tomah — plus others with insight into the hospital’s operation.
Clancy said a first phase of the VA’s investigation at Tomah is nearly finished, and a report will come out soon.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
