Disability Claims Initiative Reduces Processing Time,

[Ken Hendry]

Disability Claims Initiative Reduces Processing Time, Adds Convenience
Medical Records Review Can Eliminate In-Person Exam Requirement
WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a new initiative that could eliminate the requirement for an in-person medical examination for some Veterans and shorten the time it takes to process Veterans' disability compensation claims.
The initiative is called Acceptable Clinical Evidence (ACE). This initiative was developed by both the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) in a joint effort to provide a Veteran-centric approach for disability examinations. Use of the ACE process opens the possibility of doing assessments without an in-person examination when there is sufficient information in the record.
Under ACE practices, a VA medical provider completes a Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) by reviewing existing medical evidence. This evidence can be supplemented with information obtained during a telephone interview with the Veteran - alleviating the need for some Veterans to report for an in-person examination.
"ACE is a process improvement that will help us meet our goal to eliminate the claims backlog and provide more timely benefits to our Veterans, their families and survivors," said Undersecretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey. "The initiative also saves Veterans the inconvenience and costs associated with attending a medical examination."
When a VA medical provider determines VA records already contain sufficient medical information to provide the needed documentation for disability rating purposes, the requirement for Veterans to travel to a medical facility for an examination may be eliminated.
If VA can complete a DBQ by reviewing medical records already on file, it will use the ACE process. This would then expedite the determination of disability ratings - in turn eliminating the wait time to schedule and conduct an exam from the claims process.
During a 15-month pilot test at one VA regional claims processing office, 38 percent of claims submitted were eligible for ACE.
The ACE initiative is a part of the VBA's agency-wide Transformation Plan - a five-year, multifaceted organizational change that is based on more than 40 personnel, process and technology initiatives designed to improve claims processing. The goal of the Transformation Plan is to eliminate the claims backlog and process all claims within 125 days with 98 percent accuracy in 2015.
To learn more about VBA Transformation Initiatives, visit: http://benefits.va.gov/transformation/.
Frank Chicollo
Veterans Advisory Board, Chairman
Office of Congressman Gus M. Bilirakis
FL-09
Tel. 727-773-2871
Fax 727-784-6471
www.bilirakis.house.gov

[hbharrison]

B... S...!

[Rocky C]

It is only for some Disabled Vets.

Exam no longer needed for some disabled vets


Thursday Jan 31, 2013 17:10:51 EST


A small step was taken Thursday to ease the process of receiving veterans’ disability compensation.

In a modest change that could end up helping up to 40 percent of disability claimants, the Veterans Affairs Department is eliminating the need for an in-person medical examination if there is enough evidence of a service-connected disability in a veteran’s files or available over the phone.
The concept, tested in a 15-month pilot project, not only helped VA process claims more quickly, but it also eliminated the need for veterans to make another trip for a medical exam, which can take a month or longer to schedule.

( The streamlined process will not be used in every case, VA officials said. Those most likely to benefit are veterans who have already been treated, either at VA or by private physicians, and have test results in their files providing key information. A good example, VA officials said, would be a veteran with hearing loss who has received hearing aids.)

The process calls for a medical professional to screen files to decide if there is sufficient information to provide clinical evidence of a disability. In some cases, information in the file can be supplemented by a telephone interview, officials said.