ms. mathis: yes, senator. i agree. there is no data coming back into v.a., and there is no sort of accountability either when the records don't show up act v.a.. so, you have a provider, a primary care provider at v.a. that may have sent a patient out to the community for specialized care and the information, when the patient comes -- comes back to v.a. the information is not coming back. therefore that provider is not able to provide an accurate treatment plan for that patient. sen. king: so we don't have a handle on cost, quality, or time, is that correct? ms. mathis: cracked, senator. -- correct, senator. sen. king: by the way, when we are talking about v.a.'s responsibility and backlogs, a staff freeze is not going to help the problem. if there are fewer people to answer the phone, fewer people to process claims that is only going to exacerbate the problem, not get any better. i note that the administration the other day appeared to walk back part of the hiring freeze with regard to direct care providers. but to le