What this means
m21-5:3.A.5 explains purpose of iqrs. In plain terms, the official guidance says a review of the individual’s work is intended as a performance measure to ascertain the quality element in that individual’s performance standard. It also addresses QMS will automatically route all claims that have identified errors on initial review to a QRS with authority to perform peer reviews. The results of the peer reviews will be documented in QMS.
How this may help with a claim
Use m21-5:3.A.5 as an internal VA audit trail for purpose of iqrs, not as a promise of a particular result. Compare the actions recorded in your claim file or decision notice with this source-specific detail: A review of the individual’s work is intended as a performance measure to ascertain the quality element in that individual’s performance standard. QMS will automatically route all claims that have identified errors on initial review to a QRS with authority to perform peer reviews. If the record does not show the expected action, identify the missing step precisely when asking VA or an accredited representative to review the file.
What to review in your file
- Check the file against this official condition: An IQR is intended to provide an evaluation of an individual’s work product to determine if the minimal standard for correctness has been met.
- Confirm that the record or notice addresses this source point: IQRs are the review of randomly-selected cases per month for those employees who have a quality element in their performance standards.
- Document how this stated step or exception applies: Checklist — Standard of Review; Task-Based Quality Review Checklists — The review is a task-based review. Each checklist question is a stand-alone question.
Important limits
m21-5:3.A.5 is primarily internal workflow guidance about purpose of iqrs. It can help identify what VA was expected to document, but it does not by itself create a claimant deadline, a freestanding entitlement, or a guaranteed remedy. The source also states: A review of the individual’s work is intended as a performance measure to ascertain the quality element in that individual’s performance standard. Example 1: Employee is notified of an error on Thursday, May 25, 2023. The employee submits a reconsideration request on Friday, June 2, 2023.
Search terms when useful
Phrases that may help when searching your claim file or this library.
- Purpose of IQRs
- m21-5:3.A.5
- Purpose IQRs
- Individual Quality Reviews IQRs
- review criteria IQRs
- standard review IQRs
- recording method IQRs
- peer reviews
Original VA guidance
The official VA text of this section
5. Individual Quality Reviews (IQRs)
Introduction
This topic contains information about IQRs, including
- purpose of IQRs,
- review criteria for IQRs,
- standard of review of IQRs,
- recording method for IQRs,
- peer reviews,
- peer review disagreements,
- notification to employees,
- corrective action time limits for IQRs,
- reconsideration requests on employee performance reviews in QMS,
- deciding reconsideration requests,
- non-IQR reconsideration request timeliness, and
- mitigation of errors cited on IQRs.
Change Date
March 11, 2025
3.A.5.a. Purpose of IQRs
A review of the individual’s work is intended as a performance measure to ascertain the quality element in that individual’s performance standard.
An IQR is intended to provide an evaluation of an individual’s work product to determine if the minimal standard for correctness has been met.
IQRs are the review of randomly-selected cases per month for those employees who have a quality element in their performance standards. These reviews determine employees' individual quality level as part of the overall performance evaluation.
The intent of the performance standard is to obtain an average of three IQRs per month for each VSR, RVSR and DRO employee and five IQRs per month for each CA employee to assess the quality element in the standard.
3.A.5.b. Review Criteria for IQRs
The QRT will be responsible for performing IQRs as identified by QMS. These reviews will consist of a random selection of work based on the amount set forth in the national performance standards for each position. IQRs are randomly selected by PA&I and other computerized statistical models based on the available sample of work completed by the identified employee.
3.A.5.c. Standard for Review of IQRs
The QRS will review all associated actions that were taken or should have been taken associated with the transactio n under review. IQRs should not be a de novo review of the entire case file but limited to the actions of the individual for whom the review is being completed.
Scroll sideways to see the full table.
| Checklist | Standard of Review |
|---|---|
| Task-Based Quality Review Checklists | The review is a task-based review. Each checklist question is a stand-alone question. The QRS will apply each question in the checklist for each contention to determine if that task was successfully met. An "NA" response is recorded for each checklist question that does not apply to the actions taken by the employee associated with the transaction(s) under review. Multiple errors may be cited within a single task. A single error noted within a single task will result in no credit for that task. When completing a review, the QRS should only uncheck the "Critical Error" box within each question if the noted error is within 30 days of a manual change as noted in M21-5, Chapter 3, Section A.4.d. |
Important: Reviewers should evaluate the actions taken, or that should have been taken, based on the transaction date selected for review. Critical errors should not be cited for deficiencies that were found and corrected by the employee on the same day as the transaction date selected for review.
Example 1: On November 4, 2022, a VSR sends a Section 5103 notice to the Veteran and adds a tracked item with a 30-day suspense. The same day, the VSR realizes the 5103 development letter was not required and updates the tracked item disposition to "In Error." A VSRIQRPRE is generated for the November 4, 2022 transaction.
Analysis: A critical error related to sending the unnecessary Section 5103 notice should not be cited because the VSR caught and corrected the mistake on the same day as the transaction selected for the IQR.
Note: Because quality reviews are selected based on a specific date, quality reviewers should only consider actions taken, or that should have been taken, up to the date of the transaction under review. Corrections completed the same day are considered part of the transaction under review. If corrective action occurred on a later date, even by the same employee, this is a separate and distinctly different transaction that is not considered as part of the transaction selected for review.
Example 2: A VSR orders and incorrect examination on April 18, 2022. On April 21, 2022, an RVSR completes a partial rating on the claim and corrects the examination request. On May 24, 2022, the same VSR conducts follow-up development. A VSRIQRPRE is generated for the May 24, 2022 follow-up development transaction.
Analysis: The reviewer should evaluate the VSR actions that were taken, or that should have been taken, on May 24, 2022. A critical error should not be cited for ordering an incorrect examination on April 18, 2022 because as of May 24, 2022 the examination request was accurate and no corrective action was required.
Note: If the examination request dated April 18, 2022 was not corrected as of May 24, 2022, then it would be appropriate to cite a critical error.
References: For more information on
- The VSR Task-Based Checklist, see M21-4, Chapter 6, Appendix A,
- The RVSR Task-Based Checklist, see M21-4, Chapter 6, Appendix B,
- The DRO Task-Based Checklist, see M21-5, Chapter 3, Section A.12.a, and
- QMS, see the QMS User Guide
3.A.5.d. Recording Method for IQRs
DRO, RVSR, VSR, CA, and QRS reviews must be completed in QMS.
3.A.5.e. Peer Reviews
Peer reviews are required for all errors cited on any IQR type. Peer reviewers are responsible for ensuring that
- cited errors are appropriate,
- errors are properly documented with applicable references,
- the remainder of the checklist has been properly completed to include correctly indicating the applicability of other tasks, and
- ensuring that there are no missed errors that should have been cited by the initial reviewing QRS.
Obvious errors that were not cited by the initial QRS should be cited and forwarded for correction per the appropriate instructions in the QMS User Guide.
QMS will automatically route all claims that have identified errors on initial review to a QRS with authority to perform peer reviews. The results of the peer reviews will be documented in QMS.
Important: Once the initially reviewing QRS has submitted their review, the checklist cannot be changed by anyone except the peer reviewer. Coaches are not to manually reassign a review that has been forwarded to the peer reviewer level to the initial reviewer for corrections to the checklist.
References: For more information on QMS, see the QMS User Guide.
3.A.5.f. Peer Review Disagreements
As with overturning an error, the only basis for disagreeing with an error during the peer review is because the initial QRS's error call is clearly incorrect, based in fact or law. Mere disagreements in judgement do not meet this threshold.
If a peer reviewer disagrees with an initial reviewer on IQRs completed in QMS, the following process must be followed.
The peer reviewer must contact the initial reviewer to discuss the review in order to reach a consensus regarding the appropriate outcome prior to selecting Agree or Disagree in QMS. This discussion should be expedited to ensure timely resolution of the pending quality review. The initial reviewer and peer reviewer should make all efforts to resolve any inconsistencies to avoid the need for a third QRS review. If the initial reviewer cannot be reached, the peer reviewer must annotate the attempt in the comment box in QMS, to include date and time of the attempt.
All QRSs are reminded to ensure that cited errors meet the standard for a critical error as a CUE or violation of policy or directive.
The Peer, Final, and QRTIQRFinal review levels in QMS all function identically. The most important function at these review levels is to ensure that the checklist is completed consistent with the finding(s) of the review. When performing the review, the reviewer has the option to either agree or disagree. If the checklist is acceptable and no changes are required, select Agree, provide a comment in the text box, and select Submit Review. The review will move forward to a "Complete" or "Error Pending" status.
If the reviewer finds any discrepancies with the checklist present at the Peer, Final, or QRTIQRFinal review levels, to include only changing a task question response from "Yes" to "NA" or "NA" to "Yes," select Disagree, add a comment, and submit, which will allow edits to be made to the checklist. Once all updates to the checklist are completed, the reviewer will need to select Review Summary at the bottom of the checklist to proceed to the "Review Summary Page" and verify the checklist accepted the changes. Select Submit Review if all checklist changes are complete. The QRTIQRRET level is designated for reviews returned to the initial reviewer. When performing the review at this level, the reviewer will follow the same process of reviewing the checklist.
Important: When a review is returned, selecting Agree will not allow for changes to the checklist - Agree means the displayed checklist requires no changes. If the reviewer selects Disagree, the checklist can be modified. This function allows the initial reviewer to work with the previous subsequent reviewer to make agreed upon changes if necessary.
3.A.5.g. Notification to Employees
Once an IQR is finalized, the employee and designated coach will immediately receive notice of any errors that were cited through automatic QMS email notification procedures. Emails will have the subject line "Notification of Error Correction."
An employee may also receive notice when a review is completed, even if no error is cited. If selected for a QRTIQR, notification to the employee will be dependent on when the QRTIQR is finalized.
Note: If an employee does not receive an email notice of a cited error, this is indicative that the DROC did not submit all the needed information when entering the employee into the Workforce and Time Reporting System (WATRS). Failure to include the employee's WIT ID when submitting the employee for WATRS access will result in employees potentially not receiving automatic notification from QMS.
3.A.5.h. Corrective Action Time Limits for IQRs
The employee has five (5) business days to correct any errors following notification or file a reconsideration request as outlined in M21-5, Chapter 3, Section A.5.i. If the employee files a reconsideration request and the error is upheld, the employee has five (5) business days from the notification of the decision to correct the error(s) or to submit a secondary reconsideration request.
The five (5) business day timeliness requirement may be extended when the employee is not in a duty status during the reconsideration period for one of the following reasons:
- employee was on leave for a full day,
- employee was off work due to a compressed work schedule or "in-lieu of" holiday due to a compressed work schedule, or
- other extenuating circumstances resulting in the employee being in a non-duty status as documented by a coach.
Employees needing an extension due to leave or other extenuating circumstance must coordinate with the appropriate supervisor prior to entering a reconsideration request. Coaches are responsible for documenting days the employee was not in a duty status for each full business day during a reconsideration period by entering a review comment in QMS. If the extenuating circumstance is leave, coaches should not document the type or reason for leave.
When calculating the number of business days in the reconsideration period, the first full business day following the date of notification of the error is day one.
Example 1: Employee is notified of an error on Thursday, May 25, 2023. The employee submits a reconsideration request on Friday, June 2, 2023.
Analysis: The reconsideration request is considered timely. May 29, 2023 is a holiday, so the employee receives an additional calendar day, equating to five (5) full business days to submit a reconsideration.
Example 2: The employee is notified of the first reconsideration decision on Thursday, June 15, 2023 and is on leave from Tuesday, June 20 through Friday, June 23, 2023. The employee submits a secondary reconsideration request on Monday, July 3, 2023.
Analysis: The secondary reconsideration request is not timely. To be timely, the request must have been entered into QMS by the close of business on June 29, 2023. This will result in the error being upheld.
Note: If the employee does not wish to submit a reconsideration request, the employee will perform the accept and correct actions in QMS. If the error does not require corrective action, the employee only needs to accept the error for the record to successfully close.
3.A.5.i. Reconsideration Requests on Employee Performance Reviews in QMS
For all employees completing work at a DROC, the following steps must be followed when disagreeing with an error on an IQR in QMS. For more specific information, refer to the QMS User Guide.
Scroll sideways to see the full table.
| Step | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | After being notified of an error, the employee has five business days to express disagreement in QMS. |
| 2 | Disagreements with error calls more than five business days after notification will not be entertained, except in rare circumstances as determined by the DROC QRT coach or designee. Rare circumstances would include vacation or an illness that prevents the employee from submitting the written disagreement in the documented timeframe. Note: Extension requests must be in writing and submitted via e-mail. |
| 3 | Select Initiate Recon and type the reconsideration narrative in the comments box. All reconsideration requests must include a rationale for disagreement reference(s) to support the disagreement Employees should not copy and paste the error citation into a reconsideration request. This information is viewable by the individual deciding the reconsideration request. Note: At this point, the error correction has not been resolved. The employee is still responsible for managing and monitoring the "Error Correction" records noted in the "Error Correction Detail" page. |
| 4 | All IQR reconsiderations will automatically route to a QRS with at least one (1) year of experience completing quality reviews. QMS will route reconsiderations to a QRS that was not involved with the initial review and to the greatest extent possible, a QRS that is not at the DROC with the initial reviewer or employee reviewed. For non-IQR review types, the error correction record will route to the DROC queue of the employee reviewed. Coaches are responsible for issuing reconsideration decisions on non-IQR review types at a local level. This responsibility may also be delegated to a QRS with the appropriate skill set. Non-IQR review types should have a reconsideration decision issued within five (5) business days of the employee's submitted request. |
| 5 | Once a reconsideration decision is made, the employee will receive notification of the decision by email. The email subject line will include "A Reconsideration Decision has been made on your initiated Recon." The subject line will indicate if it was the first or second level reconsideration decision. |
| 6 | If the error was overturned, no further action is required of the employee. If the error was mitigated, the employee must take corrective action and indicate in the error correction record that the error was both accepted and corrected to successfully close the correction record. The employee must complete corrective action within five (5) business days of notification. If the error was upheld, the employee must decide whether to accept the first level reconsideration decision. If the employee accepts the reconsideration decision, corrective action must be taken within five (5) business days. If the employee does not accept the decision, a second level reconsideration request must be submitted within five (5) business days. |
| 7 | Upon submission of a second level reconsideration request, an IQR reconsideration request will route to a QRS for a decision. QMS will route to a QRS unassociated with the initial review and reconsideration decision to the greatest extent possible. For non-IQR review types, the error correction record will route to the DROC queue of the employee reviewed. Coaches are responsible for issuing reconsideration decisions on non-IQR review types at a local level. This responsibility may also be delegated to a QRS with the appropriate skill set. Non-IQR review types should have a reconsideration decision issued within five (5) business days of the employee's submitted request. |
| 8 | Once a decision is made, the employee will receive notification of the decision by email. The email subject line will include "A Reconsideration Decision has been made on your initiated Recon." The subject line will indicate if it was the first or second level decision. |
| 9 | If the employee continues to disagree with the reconsideration decisions and the local supervisor agrees that the employee continues to have a substantive argument that was not adequately considered, the local QRT coach will work with the QRT coach from the station that completed the second reconsideration decision to schedule a call between the upholding QRS, the employee, and both QRT coaches. At the conclusion of the call, the final deciding QRS will determine if a change in outcome is warranted. If no change is warranted, the reconsideration decision in QMS will stand. If the QRS determines that the error should be overturned or mitigated, the coaches will work together to return the error correction record to the QRS for updates. When taking action in QMS, the deciding QRS is required to provide a comment when resetting the error correction record, indicating that the reset is following a conference with the employee and coaches. The date of the meeting is to be provided by the QRS. |
| 10 | This is the final reconsideration decision, even if a less favorable decision is issued to the employee. If the error was overturned, no further action is required of the employee. If the error was mitigated, the employee must take corrective action and indicate in the error correction record that the error was both accepted and corrected to successfully close the correction record. The employee must take corrective action within five (5) business days. If the error was upheld, the employee has five (5) business days to take corrective action and close the error correction record. |
Important: If the first level reconsideration decision is to overturn or mitigate the error (meaning the error is changed so that it does not count as a critical error against the employee's performance), QMS will not prevent the employee from submitting a second level reconsideration request. However, if the employee submits a second level reconsideration request and the decision is to uphold the error, then this final decision will override the prior reconsideration decision. This means the error will be counted against the employee's quality performance metric. Employees are responsible for understanding the outcome of reconsideration decisions and the impact on the quality element of performance standards.
Note: DROCs may forward disputed reconsideration decisions to OAR Quality and Training at VBAWASOARQUALITYTRN@va.gov to determine if a national training opportunity exists. However, OAR Quality Assurance will not provide responses on individual errors or reconsiderations and the decisions made by the QRS are considered final.
3.A.5.j. Deciding Reconsideration Requests
The only basis for a reconsideration during the peer review is that the initial QRS's error call is clearly incorrect, based in fact or law. Mere disagreements in judgement do not meet this threshold.
If an error was correctly cited, but the references included with the error narrative are incorrect, then the error should not be overturned. QMS must continue to correctly record the valid error cited by the QRS. When completing the reconsideration decision, the deciding QRS or management official should provide the correct references that support the cited error.
Errors may not be overturned due to instances of locally issued guidance, such as instructions from a coach or QRS on how to handle a particular claim.
3.A.5.k. Non-IQR Reconsideration Decision Timeliness
DROC management has five (5) business days following the submission of a non-IQR error reconsideration request, which includes the appropriate write-up and supporting references, to issue a formal decision. QMS must be updated with the final decision and any relevant reference used when considering the reconsideration request.
Non-IQR reconsideration requests will route automatically to the DROC queue for the DROC of the reviewed employee. Employees will receive an email notifying them once a reconsideration decision has been issued.
All employees are responsible for entering their reconsideration rationale into QMS. When issuing a decision on the reconsideration, all rationale and supporting references must be included in QMS. It is not sufficient to state that an error was overturned through local procedures when references are appropriately cited and documented in QMS.
3.A.5.l. Mitigation of Errors Cited on IQRs
In some situations, mitigation of cited errors may be appropriate. Mitigation of an error is distinct from overturning an error because the only acceptable reason for overturning an error is that the error citation was incorrect (i.e., it was not a CUE or a clear violation of current regulations or directives).
Mitigation of an error during the reconsideration process results in the "Critical Error" box being unselected. Mitigation is to be used when the error citation was valid but is not to be counted against the employee's performance for the period during which the error was cited. The error will still require corrective action within the five (5) business day timeliness requirement.
Acceptable reasons for mitigating an error are
- instances that OAR has instructed to be cited as a correctable comment, but the QRS cited as a critical error,
- the error was incorrectly cited as a critical error during an applicable grace period when the QRS failed to uncheck the "critical" box, or
- the employee is in a training status (during which IQRs are not to be completed) but is not properly recorded in the Workforce Information Tool (WIT).
Reference: For more information on grace periods, see M21-5, Chapter 3, Section A.4.d.