Recommendation: To further align efforts to address appeals workload and improve timeliness of decisions, and reduce the risk that efforts will not go as planned, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct the Under Secretary for Benefits; the Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals; and the Chief Information Officer, as appropriate, to develop a schedule for IT updates that explicitly addresses when and how any process reform will be integrated into new systems and when Caseflow will be ready to support a potential streamlined appeals process at its onset.

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: VA concurred in principle with this recommendation. Moreover, since our March 2017 report, Congress passed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017, which required VA to develop a comprehensive appeals plan that included, among other things, descriptions of modifications to, cost estimates of and timelines for information technology that the agency needs to carry out appeals reform. However, more than a year after implementation of appeals reform, VA's February 2020 updated plan and FY 2021 budget request indicate that Caseflow has "minimal functionality", with many functionalities yet to be implemented. Further, VA's February 2020 updated plan and its FY 2021 budget request do not include specific steps or goals related to achieving overall functionality, integrated testing, or IT training for staff on new functionality still to be implemented in 2020 or beyond. While the VA's use of the agile process for IT development can help mitigate risks and avoid cost overruns and delays, VA's plans do not signal when Caseflow will support all of the Board's workflow needs for processing appeals under the new process. Such longer-term planning also could help ensure that all potential changes are anticipated in the plans of various VA components. For example, VA's February 2020 updated plan states that VHA cannot use Caseflow to efficiently and effectively manage its appeals workload. Longer-term planning could also ensure more transparency around additional resources needed to fully implement Caseflow versus other appeals-related technologies enterprise wide. We will consider closing this recommendation when VA has produced a longer-term plan for developing, implementing and integrating Caseflow functionality in support of a streamlined appeals process, including clear definitions of initial/minimal operating capability and full operational capability.

Recommendation: To better understand whether appeals process reform, in conjunction with other efforts, has improved timeliness, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should direct the Under Secretary for Benefits; the Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals; and the Chief Information Officer, as appropriate to develop a strategy for assessing process reform--relative to the current process--that ensures transparency in reporting to Congress and the public on the extent to which VA is improving veterans' experiences with its disability appeals process.

Agency: Department of Veterans Affairs
Status: Open

Comments: VA concurred in principle with this recommendation. Moreover, since our March 2017 report, Congress passed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017, which required VA to produce a comprehensive appeals plan that required VA, among other things, to periodically publish a range of metrics, including timeliness, related to the processing of appeals under the new and legacy system. As of February 2019, VA implemented appeals reform; however VA has not indicated how it will assess whether or the extent to which the new process, which also allows for multiple appeal opportunities, will achieve final resolution of veterans' appeals sooner, on average, than the legacy process. We will consider closing this recommendation when the Board establishes timeliness goals for all new appeals options and VA has produced a plan for analyzing whether the new process is an improvement. Closure of this recommendation is related to recommendation 2 in GAO-18-352.