Evaluation of Peace Corps/Medical Clearance System

We recommend that the OMS enforce SOP 3.1 and 3.2 pertaining to confidential applicant medical records.

We recommend that the Pre-Service Unit with the assistance of the QI Unit and the Office of Strategic Information, Research, and Planning (OSIRP) determine whether the performance measures recommended in the Pugh Ettinger McCarthy Associates report would accurately capture Pre-Service performance. These performance indicators include but are not limited to the following: • Percentage of Volunteers with accommodations that complete 27 months of service. • Rate of non-injury related Medevac.• Rate of mental health early terminations.• Percentage of Peace Corps offices involved in the VDS that rate OMS performance as excellent.• Percentage of Pre-Service employees that rate their job satisfaction as excellent.• Average time to fill open positions.• Monthly turnover rate.• Cost per Federal Employees’ Compensation Act claim.• Cost per screening.• Percentage of Volunteers with significant medical issues not identified in screening. • Percentage of screenings with decisions made within 90 days of receipt.• Percentage of incomplete medical records.

We recommend that the OMS provide Quality Improvement training to their staff to enable the staff to develop meaningful performance indicators to measure the Pre-Service Unit’s productivity and other related matters.

We recommend that the OMS create policies and procedures to require PCMOs to complete the Country Health Resources Survey as information in their country changes in order to ensure that the headquarters data on the types of medical conditions the post can accommodate is accurate.

We recommend that the OMS merge the two duplicative databases, the Country Health Resources database and the Medical Accommodations database, used by screening nurses to place applicants requiring a medical accommodation for efficiency and consistency in the medical accommodations process.