Veterans disability exams (Compensation and Pension exams)

Specialties NP

Published

Greetings,

I have a potential job offer to do disability exams (compensation and pension exams) for veterans. Can someone tell me the pros and cons of doing this type of work? What are the liabilities in terms of getting sued?

Thanks in advance!

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I knew one physician who quit her practice because she assumed (or was promised) better financial outcomes. She moved her family from another state to wherever they were and a few months later, she was very upset because it was not what it seemed. I know of one PA who just graduated and was told that they will help him out with the paperwork but in the end, he had to do everything himself and his paychecks were 2-3 months BEHIND.

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I found the VA to be full of friendly and helpful staff. There is absolutely no provider support so the mundane stuff you'd normally toss to other staff don't exist to do your bidding. This was the biggest change for me because I never did anything at all but speak with patients and prescribe meds.

C&P exams are very thorough, and many vets throw out this ridiculous sense of entitlement and threats to call politicians, etc. I very much like VA practice, but in C&P you're going to get soooo much malingering for pecuniary gain. No one really cares about though. Just do what you're paid to do, nothing less and if you wish nothing more and you'll be fine.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I found the VA to be full of friendly and helpful staff. There is absolutely no provider support so the mundane stuff you'd normally toss to other staff don't exist to do your bidding. This was the biggest change for me because I never did anything at all but speak with patients and prescribe meds.

C&P exams are very thorough, and many vets throw out this ridiculous sense of entitlement and threats to call politicians, etc. I very much like VA practice, but in C&P you're going to get soooo much malingering for pecuniary gain. No one really cares about though. Just do what you're paid to do, nothing less and if you wish nothing more and you'll be fine.

You lost me at no staff to help with the paperwork, lol. I thought there would be a lot of malingering and wonder about being personally threatened in this line of work. Unfortunately what I have seen is patients who most need the benefits feel they are "fine" and lack the insight to realize they wouldn't be able to hold a job and many of the patients intent on getting the service connection windfall are actually quite capable. The inordinately high prevalence of MST claims is a whole nother can of worms in my opinion.

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A friend did it. Doctors have support staff, but not NPs. Yes to the malingering.

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A friend did it. Doctors have support staff, but not NPs. Yes to the malingering.

Nobody in psych has support staff. No one and psych is the largest specialty service encompassing about five other programs.

However, there are completely NP-led primary care teams.

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You lost me at no staff to help with the paperwork, lol. I thought there would be a lot of malingering and wonder about being personally threatened in this line of work. Unfortunately what I have seen is patients who most need the benefits feel they are "fine" and lack the insight to realize they wouldn't be able to hold a job and many of the patients intent on getting the service connection windfall are actually quite capable. The inordinately high prevalence of MST claims is a whole nother can of worms in my opinion.

I actually saw a DOD study that mentioned most MST claims come from the navy with again the majority of those in ship underway.

The problem with MST is that someone can come in decades later and complain about it, and it reads dividends in benefits -male or female.

PTSD is generally left to specialty teams to diagnose so they're gifted with more time and materials to cull the less legitimate complaints.

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Specializes in Primary Care, Military.
You lost me at no staff to help with the paperwork, lol. I thought there would be a lot of malingering and wonder about being personally threatened in this line of work. Unfortunately what I have seen is patients who most need the benefits feel they are "fine" and lack the insight to realize they wouldn't be able to hold a job and many of the patients intent on getting the service connection windfall are actually quite capable. The inordinately high prevalence of MST claims is a whole nother can of worms in my opinion.

Not that it's here or there or even really means anything, but as a vet that suffered not just the MST itself, but the humiliation and torment that came from daring to speak up about it, reading that hurts a bit. Did you know that when we deploy, females are instructed that they are not authorized to even go to the bathroom at night by themselves? Doing so, we're told, is putting ourselves out there to be raped by contractors or even those wearing our same uniform. Yes. We are warned to beware our own brothers in uniform, because sexual assault during deployment became that big of a problem. Can. Not. Even. Go. To. The. Bathroom. Had to sign forms that we were aware of this direction and that disobeying it was putting ourselves in direct danger. The victim blaming gets very tiring, very fast.

Then again, I've been lucky. The only ones who gave me a hard time were those I was supposed to be able to rely on while in the service. The civilians I've seen at the VA and those who have done the C&P exams have been extremely nice and professional. If you do this, please don't become jaded. Yes, there are people that will try to abuse any system. There being a high number of MST cases? That alone isn't shocking to me. Military culture has allowed sexual assault to be a problem for a long time. It's not just my experience. I was also a Unit Victim Advocate for our hospital. Take a look at the Service Women's Action Network.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Not that it's here or there or even really means anything, but as a vet that suffered not just the MST itself, but the humiliation and torment that came from daring to speak up about it, reading that hurts a bit. Did you know that when we deploy, females are instructed that they are not authorized to even go to the bathroom at night by themselves? Doing so, we're told, is putting ourselves out there to be raped by contractors or even those wearing our same uniform. Yes. We are warned to beware our own brothers in uniform, because sexual assault during deployment became that big of a problem. Can. Not. Even. Go. To. The. Bathroom. Had to sign forms that we were aware of this direction and that disobeying it was putting ourselves in direct danger. The victim blaming gets very tiring, very fast.

Then again, I've been lucky. The only ones who gave me a hard time were those I was supposed to be able to rely on while in the service. The civilians I've seen at the VA and those who have done the C&P exams have been extremely nice and professional. If you do this, please don't become jaded. Yes, there are people that will try to abuse any system. There being a high number of MST cases? That alone isn't shocking to me. Military culture has allowed sexual assault to be a problem for a long time. It's not just my experience. I was also a Unit Victim Advocate for our hospital. Take a look at the Service Women's Action Network.

Thank you for your thoughtful response. Please accept my apology and know that I am in no way blaming victims. I believe there should be zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. I am glad to hear you were treated with kindness and professionalism during your examination and hope you continue to advocate for a change in culture.

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Nobody in psych has support staff. No one and psych is the largest specialty service encompassing about five other programs.

However, there are completely NP-led primary care teams.

I was told psychiatrists had support staff. But not the Psych NP.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
Nobody in psych has support staff. No one and psych is the largest specialty service encompassing about five other programs.

What a shame and how could they expect to attract quality psychiatrists or NPs?

I was told psychiatrists had support staff. But not the Psych NP.

Not the VA but I had a friend who worked at a clinic with this set up. Its sad there are those among us who tolerate this type of thing.

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Specializes in Primary Care, Military.
Thank you for your thoughtful response. Please accept my apology and know that I am in no way blaming victims. I believe there should be zero tolerance for sexual misconduct. I am glad to hear you were treated with kindness and professionalism during your examination and hope you continue to advocate for a change in culture.

Thank you. Those who take positions to perform the C&P are signing up for a tough job, but are also providing a necessary and helpful service to veterans. I'm sorry about those who are trying to misuse the benefits, as they're harming those who really need them. I'm in NP school myself, although I have more of an interest in ortho/pod from my time in service working with the Airborne division as an RN. I appreciate that you took the time to respond. I don't think you're victim blaming, but I did want to point out how prevalent it is.

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