The VA has announced plans to issue a request for proposal for a new medical appointment scheduling system at the end of September, giving vendors until roughly end of October to put forward proposals.
The department said it would issue a draft RFP prior to releasing the full RFP to maximize industry and stakeholder input, and that the solicitation would require a two-part demonstration of capabilities: a written proposal and a technical demonstration to scheduling staff.
The VA said it chose a full and open competitive strategy to acquire a commercial, off-the-shelf scheduling system.
In the meantime, the VA is working to improve the current system. It has awarded a contract to improve the existing scheduling interface, providing schedulers a calendar view of resources instead of a current text-based, multiple-screen view, with deployment scheduled for 2015.
The VA also plans to deploy, this December, mobile applications to allow veterans to directly request certain types of primary care and mental health appointments, as well as an application that will give VA schedulers an easier-to-use interface to schedule medical appointments.