Veteran Affairs C&P Physician Guide

Rightardia has written about the Veteran Affairs Compensation and Pension (C&P) medical exams in the past.

We have pointed out that most of the C&P clinicians are not doctors but nurse practitioners and physicians assistants. Often the exams are cursory and superfluous.

We recommend vets go the the Freedom of Information Act Office and get a copy of the C&P notes relating to the physicals. Write a letter that identifies any shortfalls in the exams. Submits the letter to both the FOIA office for inclusion is CPRS and to the Veterans Center for inclusion in your claim file (c-file).

If the C&P progress notes are really off base, get a second physical from a private practice physicians and submit the results to both the FOIO office and the veterans center.

Be aware, too, that the physicals supposed to be conducted IAW The C&P Service Clinician’s Guide.

According to the VA: 

This guide is designed to assist clinicians when performing compensation and pension (C&P) examinations. Since C&P examinations differ markedly from traditional medical examinations, special clinician guidance is required. This guide provides information for performing examinations that meet the requirements of the federal law.

Since the federal law (rating schedule) is written in legal language, it is often misinterpreted by clinicians. This guide, therefore, bridges this gap and explains the law in clinical terms.

Both this Guide and the worksheets should be utilized when performing C&P examinations. 

If you are getting a general medical exam, the clinicians should follow the worksheet for this exam, which is in chapter 1. 

Report any errors of commission's or omission in you letter that reclamas the physical. 

The C&P exam is important because the VARO Rating Veterans service Representative (RVSR) will often consider evidence from a C&P clinicians over that of a private practice doctor.

The legal eagles of the Board of Veterans Appeals (BVA) are less impressed by a clinicians opinions when they are compared to the opinions of board certified primary doctors and specialists.

This is as it should be be because many vets have been seeing their primary care doctors and specialists for years while they might spend 30 minute to an hour with a C&P clinician.

Time is of the essence. You may get a Statement of Case or Supplemental Statement of Case (SSOC) within 30 days following the C&P physical. 

Since you and your family could be greatly impacted by the VA, decision it's time to play hardball if you want to be on the winning team.

see http://www.vetsforjustice.com/C&P%20Service%20Clinician%E2%80%99s%20Guide.htm

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Filing Veterans Administration claims data

The Major found out that the VA actually has two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) offices. 

At Bay Pines there is the main FOIA office where veteran's can get copies of C&P progress notes from physicals and also from your VA physicians.

There is also a Privacy Office in the VA Regional Office (VARO) that has a similar information function.

Doctor's enter data directly into the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS). However, some data has to be scanned into the system using Vista Imaging,

For example, if a Veteran submits a Disability Benefit Questionnaire from to his primary care or VA specialist,  The doctor would manually fill in the form an his/her nurse would take the form to the Veterans Administration Medical Center FOIA office. The FOIA office would then have the document scanned into CPRS.

Most veterans take  medical calims to their Veteran representative. The Major uses The Disabled American Veteran (DAV) and has worked with an assortment of DAV National Service Officers (NSO).

In general, claims are submitted to the VA representative. The Major has submitted medical documentation related to the claims to the Veteran's Center. The VA Regional Office (VARO) rep there will copy your document and stamp it.

Data submitted to the VA rep or the Veterans Center will go into the veteran's claim file (c-file). Data submitted to the VAMC FOIA office goes into CPRS.

Rightardia's advice is that if you have important medical documentation, take it both the FOIO office and the Veterans Center. If you want you VA doctors to be able to see the documentation, take it to the VAMC FOIO office so the document can be scanned into CPRS.

The Major does not give documentation other than the initial claim to the DAV NSO because he knows the typical NSO handles the claims for 300 veterans.

It's better to file the documentation in the Veterans Center which will take the administrative burden off of the NSO. In addition, the Veterans center will return a copy of any documentation you provide it with a date stamp.

In summary, take important claim documentation to both the VAMC FOIA office and the VARO Veterans Center. The FOIO office will scan your document and have it entered into CPRS which doctors and clinicians in the hospital use.

Any data submitted to the Veterans Center will go into the Veterans c-file.

The Major recommends that key documents be entered into both CPRS and the c-file.

http://benefits.va.gov/TRANSFORMATION/dbqs/ListByDBQFormName.asp

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Rightardia by Rightard Whitey of Rightardia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at rightardia@gmail.com.