OpenVA Search Ideas

Add to the My Healthevet program by allowing vet to access and obtain copies of all labwork, testing results, and doctor's notes. It would save time for the vet by not having to wait the 10- 20 days it currently takes to get copies of records. It would save money by not needing postage to mail the records to the vet. It would cut down on the number of employees needed to work in medical records by enabling vets to obtain... more »

A pilot project to build a next-gen Dept of Veterans Affairs portal for the Federal Community Cloud. The idea is to build a suite of opensocial portals, one at each Federal Agency, based on The Open Stack that will enable communication with all opensocial partners.

 

Useful Links:

http://tinyurl.com/yks78pg

http://bit.ly/cUrTv8

My suggestion has to do with how service connection (SC) is determined at the VA. It has always been a wonder to me why the VA is so adamant about your VA Primary Care Physician (PCP) NOT having access to your service medical records (SMR). If you go to a civilian/private doctor as your primary physician one of the first things they do is request any past medical records to see your medical history and thus it helps them... more »

As a disable veteran having been in the system for more than 20 years, I can definitely relate to the having records lost, duplicate request, not knowing where the status of my claim, and simply the frustrations of waiting. The other week I ordered a pizza online and was amazed at how intuitive, and informative their ordering process was. I wondered with all the technology out there, the monies and time that are wasted... more »

I am a County Veterans Service Officer. The VA should have web based computer access for CVSOs to access VIRTUAL VA and SHARE. Utilizing a Username and Password. We are able to access our State VA with this type of set up.

Currently you need to navigate 3 firewalls and the load time for VPN is 15 minutes or more. Sometimes it does not load at all. This will eliminate 1,000s of phone calls to the 800 numbers that... more »

I feel that something should be done about how long it takes the VA to process claims for education benefits. I applied for benefits in August of 2009, the fall semester, and spring semester is now here and I have yet to hear anything. Something needs to be done in regards to processing. The govt was helping out with the Advance Payment but now we must pay that back on top of the out of pocket expenses for school.... more »

The US is getting smaller with its increase of citizens. Besides the cultural differences between civilians and military members (whether active or retired and with the VA) there seem to be many possibilities of mutual assistance if there were more collaboration.

Examples:

1) VA support for locally stationed active members....
2) Expertise levels by civilians in some health-care areas--especially mental health--may... more »

The VA should have one website where veterans/beneficiaries can login and view all of their VA benefit information. This should include status, location, and anticipated completed of claims in progress as well as payment information of benefits currently being received. This resource would eliminate a lot of confusion and aggrivation on the part of us veterans and should reduce the the number of inquiries to various... more »

V.A. should set goals and keep records on three aspects of all phone calls.

First V.A. should record the number of calls and amount of time the caller is spending on the phone trying to get help.

Second track the amount of time the caller is kept on hold. This should be seperate from the total phone time mentioned above.

Third keep track of the number of calls where the caller is hung up on after being... more »

Being in the VA system as a patient for 17 plus years I have noticed that there are many Drs that are uncaring,unresponsive and unreachable.
I was recently put on insulin and my primary care Dr when I asked said,I cant tell you how to use insulin,you have to figure it out on your own,I kept crashing and almost died several times,it took my psychiatrist to tell me how to use insulin.I've encountered other past patients... more »

If the VA is serious about improving the way they do business, then a performance system should be developed on supervisor's performance. Each employee will fill out a performance survey on their supervisor and it will be given to the supervisor's boss or maybe a higher authority. Working with ineffective leaders is detriment to the office morale and work productivity. Supervisors, Section Heads, Directors need to... more »

VBA – Each VA Regional Office should have a toll free number that I can call from anywhere. If I’m visiting family in another state, I can’t call my home VARO office, I get the nearest one to the phone I’m calling from. And they can’t really tell me anything or get me to the correct VARO. Calling 1 800 827 1000 just gives me the nearest VARO that may not be the one I need to call.

Professionalization – The “product line” movement has proven to be ineffective. Too many medical centers are still organized in these silos instead of maintaining the integrity of a profession like Psychology, Nursing, and Social Work. The product line model is proven to be less effective, harmful to morale, and expensive yet some administrators only know how to do this one thing. Put the professions together. I want... more »

There has been much discussed in the press, as well as a lively veteran topic whenever veterans get together, on how the VA defines success through employee metrics in the rating area. The VA has a professed mission of “The mission of the Disability Compensation program is to provide monthly payments to veterans in recognition of the effects of disabilities, diseases, or injuries incurred or aggravated during active... more »

The DOD is often reported to have many vacancies for which it is recruiting. Why not have able veterans volunteer to fill these until a permanent appointment is made? Thousands of veterans have once had clearances that might be updated with less effort than the new appointments will require. Thousands need either no compensation or little more than just there expenses paid, and many who are computer-savy might be assigned... more »