The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced a nationwide transition to paperless processing of disability claims at its regional benefits processing offices.
It said it is working to establish its new Veterans Benefits Management System – VBMS — which it will rely on to help meet the department’s goal of processing claims in 125 days or less, at 98 percent accuracy, by the end of 2015.
So far 18 VA regional offices have implemented the system and full deployment is expected in 2013 for the remaining offices.
Increased demand for benefits resulting from over a decade of war, expanded access to benefits related to the use of Agent Orange in Southeast Asia, and a simplified claims process for PTSD have caused the department to struggle to keep up with claims volume.
The new system allow claims workers to establish claims as "e-folders," receive, store and view submitted claim documents electronically, identify and track the evidence VA needs from beneficiaries and other outside sources, and to quickly direct claims electronically among regional offices to better match VA’s workload with available workforce capacity.
