Va To Test Paperless Claims Processing At Providence Regional Office

[pacmanx1]

VA TO TEST PAPERLESS CLAIMS PROCESSING AT PROVIDENCE REGIONAL OFFICE VA Secretary Shinseki has set a goal that by 2015 VA will process all claims within 125 days with 98% accuracy.

NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... I especially like this line from the VA press release below:

Secretary Shinseki has set a goal that by 2015 VA will process all claims within 125 days with 98 percent accuracy.

It's nice to know that the Secretary has a sense of humor.

Use our search engine for more about the VA's claims backlog ... here ...

http://www.yourvaben...=backlog&op=and

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VA PRESS RELEASE

VA Announces Test of Paperless Claims Processing System

Initiative Will Improve Process and Speed Payments to Veterans

WASHINGTON –The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has selected its regional benefits office in Providence, R.I., to test a paperless system and new procedures to improve processing of Veterans' claims for disability compensation.

"This test program marks a major milestone in VA's move to paperless processing," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "It supports VA's transformation of the claims process to ensure speedy delivery of benefits to Veterans, their families and their survivors."

The pilot, which initially focuses on compensation benefits, is expected to start at the Providence facility in November, with completion in May 2011. Additional pilots are expected before the new claims system is deployed to all 57 VA regional benefits offices.

The Providence pilot is part of the Veterans Benefits Management System, one of more than three dozen initiatives in progress at VA to "break the back of the backlog." This first VBMS pilot comes after completion of the Virtual Regional Office project collocated at the Baltimore Regional Office in May 2010. VA brought claims processors from around the country to Baltimore this past spring to assist in the rapid prototyping of a demonstration system.

Secretary Shinseki has set a goal that by 2015 VA will process all claims within 125 days with 98 percent accuracy.

VA will provide compensation, pension, education, loan guaranty, vocational rehabilitation, employment, and insurance benefits valued at nearly $70 billion this year to Veterans, their families and survivors through 57 VA regional offices.

[JamesBreckenridge]

We are going to try our hardest to accomplish General Shinseki's goal. I think it is going to require some changes in how we operate.

There have been some all-hands meetings with our Regional Office Directors and Service Center Managers regarding how we are going to accomplish this.

We are getting increased pressure to get these claims taken, developed, and promulgated. If everything is done just right, 125 days is not unreasonable. With the right attention to detail, 100 percent accuracy is possible.

It's going to be a heck of a fight, but were going to do our best to pull it off.

[SLEDGE]

No more shredding.

Just hit DELETE.

sledge

[JustPLS]

We are going to try our hardest to accomplish General Shinseki's goal. I think it is going to require some changes in how we operate.

There have been some all-hands meetings with our Regional Office Directors and Service Center Managers regarding how we are going to accomplish this.

We are getting increased pressure to get these claims taken, developed, and promulgated. If everything is done just right, 125 days is not unreasonable. With the right attention to detail, 100 percent accuracy is possible.

It's going to be a heck of a fight, but were going to do our best to pull it off.

Good luck, and thanks for putting forth the effort. We will all be much better off it this program is successful.

[brokensoldier244th]

provided that the veteran does their part by not filing for everything under the sun (mud slinging at the wall) and that they document stuff the first time, or have adequate supporting documentation, I don't see why there would be any problem. Some of the responsibility resides on the vet, too. For example, if you have a year to appeal, why take the whole year unless you have some kind of extenuating circumstance? That just delays your claim another 364 days.