VA has 46 out of 58 regional offices doing online claims

Electronic Claims System Boosts VA Efficiency
May 15, 2013
Military.com
by Bryant Jordan

With 46 of 58 Department of Veterans Affairs regional offices now capable of handling electronic disability claims, efficiency has increased by about 10 percent, VA officials said.

A department official who spoke with reporters Tuesday did not dispute that a 10 percent increase was small when considering the VA claims backlog is about 600,000, but suggested it should improve significantly as more paper claims are converted to electronic files and more new applications start out as e-files.

The VA outlined the new system for reporters during a background meeting in Washington on Tuesday.

The VA has scanned more than 100 million documents for conversion to electronic files as part of its ambitious Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS). While that process continues, it has also begun accepting fully electronic claims applications. Those began in February, when Marine veteran Phillip Walker completed the first-ever fully electronic claim with the help of a Disabled American Veteran counselor in Fairfax, Va.

Walker believes his Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease stems from his military service, according to the DAV, which featured Walker in a report on the inaugural e-claim.

Jim Marszalek, deputy national service director for the DAV, told Military.com that Walker’s claim demonstrated the efficiency of the VBMS.

“It was done entirely online,” Marszalek said. “We could track it [online]. A week or so later, we could see it in Atlanta. It was there. That claim is now completed and he has been compensated. ... It was a success story, that’s for sure.”
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