VA plans to implement new training to stop inappropriate shredding

The Morning Call-The Department of Veterans Affairs believes that moving to electronic files and increased training will prevent veterans’ records from being shredded inappropriately. Beth McCoy, a deputy undersecretary at the VA stated that now 99.5% of veterans’ claims for benefits are being processed electronically.This minimizes the potential error of accidentally destroying important documents. What started this movement? A report from the VA inspector general in April looked at ten different VA offices. Six out of the ten did not have procedures to prevent claims- related paperwork from being improperly destroyed and after looking at the documents placed in bins that were waiting to be shredded determined that over 45% of those documents were not supposed to be there. The VA inspector general’s office is going to follow up on this issue once the new procedures have been put in place.

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