“Leaders from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ benefits and health units are opening up about the technical implications for a few of its recent expanded focuses in electronic health records and other benefits for veterans, especially those in underserved communities.”
“’I want you to know that on our end, we’re doing our utmost … so that together, everywhere, we can tell that person on the other end of the phone that we haven’t given up on you,’ said Dr. Carolyn Clancy, Veteran Health Administration’s deputy under secretary for Health for the Office of Discovery, Education and Affiliate Networks, during DAV’s 2021 National Convention in Tampa, Florida, last weekend.”
“VA’s recent expansions of a few key areas — including the electronic health record (EHR) program, toxic exposure benefits, claims processing and health equity — means shifting priorities on the technology supporting those processes.”
“Clancy reiterated the agency’s focus on an enterprise structure for its EHR program to ensure a ‘seamless flow of information’ between VA and the Defense Department, for instance…”
“With these added benefits, the agency is working on improving processes to reduce its claims backlog. Before the onset of COVID-19, VA had a claims backlog of 70,000, which Frueh said was “a working zero inventory.” Once the pandemic hit, VA’s claims processes were either stopped or slowed. Currently, the claims backlog is at 186,000, down from 210,000 about six months ago. ”
“’The reason it’s climbing down is because we’re starting to order a whole lot more disability exams,’ Frueh said. ‘We’re trying to ramp up our ability to generate disability exams … We need them to go up, and we’re going to continue to drive that up because we proposed three new presumptives for toxic exposures…'” Read the full article here.
Source: VA Taking Critical Steps to Prepare for Expanded Veteran Benefits – By Sarah Sybert, August 5, 2021. GovernmentCIO.
