Department of Veterans Affairs gets real stuff done

Filling out disability claims forms is challenging for anyone who doesn’t do a lot of it.  So VA is making that easier with VONAPP Direct connect (VDC) on eBenefits.  VDC lets a veteran submit a compensation claim on-line in a turbo tax like, drop down format. VDC isn’t a form, it is an electronic interview process that even pre-populates with the information VA has on the Veteran.Vets frequently get help from Vets Service Organizations, VSOs, either at nonprofits or local government and VA wants to partner with the VSOs to improve service.  VA is deploying an electronic interface for VSOs called the Stakeholder Enterprise Portal (SEP).  The deal with SEP is that qualified VSOs can use VDC to directly submit the veteran’s data into VBMS  to build a claim and to track the status as it gets processed.  Having this realtime info on the claim makes VSOs even more valuable in the eyes of veterans.

The reality for many VSOs is that they work with existing front end claim builders, like VetPro, to fill in claim forms right, but on paper.  The Digits to Digits effort, D2D, defines the means by which existing software can talk right to VBMS.

In addition, VA is doing some real innovative partnership work with employees, hearing from front line workers about simple changes with large benefits.  For example, if a vet condition has been certified by a private doctor, then there’s no point in doing that again with a VA doctor. That suggestion has resulted in the Disability Benefits Questionnaire, which helps get vets qualified more quickly and easily, saving time and money.

A related effort to speed processing is called Fully Developed Claims.The deal is that a claim that’s submitted with all the supporting medical records can be processed relatively quickly. Otherwise, VA must send multiple requests and gather evidence from multiple sources to substantiate a claim—which is a main cause of the backlog.  Fully Developed Claims also free up VA people time to work on more challenging claims, or to work on old claims.

We’re seeing other existing partnership efforts pay off for vets. Google, as part of its VetNet effort, has worked with the Chamber of Commerce, Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Hire Heroes USA, VA, and DoD to build the Veterans Job Bank.  The deal is that employers mark job postings as suitable for vets, maybe even with a preference.  You can find it here.

The Blue Button effort is also paying off for veterans, it can be used to download and share both medical and service record info, which is being used by vendors who can read and update Blue Button info for better ongoing treatment.

Finally, VA just announced a contest, where private software developers are challenged to write software that talks to the existing VA clinic systems.  The clinics systems, Open Source VistA, is a real big deal, an early success story. Newly notable is the “open source” part, enabling new ways for VA to engage in partnership.

Partnership has been critical to each VA success, but that partnership has been limited to parties in Washington or in limited local areas.

However, there’s been very little outreach to stakeholders outside that relatively small community.  Success is inhibited, it’s at risk, unless stakeholders hear about good efforts, particularly they need to hear about new, successful efforts. That is, if no one’s talking about a successful effort, it hasn’t happened.

Those stakeholders include:

• veterans and their loved ones
• VA line workers throughout the system
• nonprofit VSOs, local and national
• government VSOs, generally local
• politicians genuinely concerned with vets
• Americans who support vets

If you don’t keep people in the loop, it’s a lot harder to get their buy-in and cooperation.

However, inclusion is really difficult to accomplish for a bunch of reasons, cultural and practical.

1. The deal is that VA is getting a lot done with in the spirit of internal and external partnership.  However, a lot of stakeholders are way out of the loop, and are frustrated about that. They don’t see much progress, and expect what they observed in the past, lots of money being spent with few effective results.Keeping people in the loop is just not expected in US government or business culture, no one teaches it.
2. Knowledge is power, and not sharing is normally perceived as a means of retaining power.
3. Bad actors in the press will seize on released news, and will ignore good news, but will attempt to buy audiences by exaggerating bad news.
4. In Washington, failure is very damaging, and success is rewarded not so much;  personal networking dominates. (Contrast that to the Silicon Valley perception, where failure is just perceived as normal on the way to success.)

Well, people of goodwill can maybe help address that, first by writing a post focusing on success and what got there, writing with brevity. (done?)

Next, well, would be finding a way to broadcast VA success, along with some ideas of what made these efforts successful, or potentially successful.  In these cases, the critical success factor involves the kind of partnership perspective one doesn’t often see in Washington.  I guess I’ve just volunteered to partner up.

I feel that we need to get this stuff to all stakeholders, seriously engaging VSOs and VA, making sure we listen to line workers.  (Seriously, I suspect I’ve just volunteered.)

Personally, I feel a lot of affinity for efforts like this.  I figure that if an American is willing to risk a bullet for me, I should give back.

As a nerd, well, I’m an IT guy.  As a customer service rep, I’m emotionally invested in the perspective of line workers and their customers.

A nerd’s gotta do what a nerd’s gotta do.

Craig