Eagle-eyed Joe (average) Vet just sent me this today. It’s priceless. Remember Chevy Chase from SNL doing the newscast with Jane Curtin? “And now, for something entirely different- today the VA announced that they absolutely, positively, without any more ado, are finally going to fix the intractable backlog…
“This national deployment, consisting of people, process and technology initiatives, follows comprehensive planning and testing to ensure we have the right recipe for success,” chirped Under Secretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey in that cute Alvin the Chipmunk voice of hers.
Over the years, I have heard a litany of something far superior to the blame game emanate from Victor Alpha. Yes, the solutions game. After all the excuses are filed and the FNGs hired, inertia sets in once again. Recall that member Joe A. Vet just gave us those recent pearls of VA wisdom last week.
https://asknod.wordpress.com/?s=The+boy+who+cried+wolf
So what should our wondering eyes behold today but yet another piece of the puzzle that will complete the picture. In all these years some of the most used tags in their repertoire included ” milestone(s), transformation, bifunctional, trifunctional, multifunctional, cross-functional, cross-check capability, quality review teams, error-free system, national deployment, triage and veteran friendly.”
In keeping with all the former releases, this one becomes the grand daddy of all of them.
milestone:
“This is an important milestone in our transformation to achieve the goal we established in 2009 of processing all disability claims within 125 days at a 98 percent accuracy level in 2015,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.
Gee, I remember back in 09 he said by 2011 when he asked for 3,500 more worker bees.
transformation:
VA’s transformation plan is based on more than 40 measures that were selected, evaluated, tested and measured from over 600 stakeholder and employee innovation ideas.
The 12 regional offices to begin the deployment of the transformation initiatives
the integrated effects of the transformation plan
The major components of the transformation plan
Sounds like there’s a whole lot of transformation going on. So, if the system has been broken for what- 25 years- are we to understand that they just now decided to listen to the employees’ suggestions? What were all those suggestion boxes for? Wall ornaments?
Cross-functional:
Cross-Functional Teams, which support a case-management approach to claims
If they are just now putting in telephones in order to promote interoffice discourse (cross-functional) doesn’t that imply that they have been dysfunctional in the past? By spilling the beans here and giving us the repair order, they are indicting those identified parts of their system as being sub par and the cause of the bottleneck.
quality review teams:
VA has already nationally implemented:
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Quality Review Teams, which are composed of dedicated local quality review specialists who will evaluate station and individual employee performance and conduct in-process reviews to eliminate errors at the earliest possible stage.
Quality Review teams metamorphose like caterpillars. Do not be surprised if they resemble STAR Teams, OIG Fact-finder Teams, Quality Guaranty Teams, Regional Office Troubleshooter Teams, Ghostbuster Teams, Compensation and Pension Quality Control Teams, Quality Assurance Teams and more. It’s very crowded down there at the old RO sometimes when they’re all in town at the same time.triage:The Intake Processing Center, which adds a formalized process for triaging claims documents and other mail,
The VA’s mail rooms have been doing triage for decades. The process looks for claims or mail asking for advancement on the docket for medical and financial hardship and TDIU. These claims have to be processed within 90 days from receipt. Other items that involve Congressional interest get top triage too. For VA to claim they are adding a “formalized process” to triage, we are to assume they were lackadaisical in the past?I am sure, as are my fellow Veterans, that VA has finally affixed a handle on this problem and will shortly make the claims process a smooth, seamless process that ensures little room for error. After reading this article, I realize (as a stakeholder) I will sleep soundly tonight for the first time in years. Victor Alpha has finally heard my prayers. Deliverance is nigh (again).When I was framing houses, you knew you were going backwards when you took the sawsall off the truck. VA doesn’t even know what a regular saw looks like. In fact, they’re now preparing to invent their own to cut through this log jam.
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 
The process looks for claims or mail asking for advancement on the docket for medical and financial hardship and TDIU. These claims have to be processed within 90 days from receipt.
Is this through almighty doctrine? Ninety days for processing will NEVER happen within the present system which is bloated, over managed and layered higher than a brides wedding cake. My request for TDIU arrived in their offices in Oct. 2011, and it remains collecting dust, according to IRIS and it is well beyond the miracle cutoff date.
Unacceptable. Have you contacted your senator or congressman? Or is that pointless.
Hmmm, looks like the 8,000 homeless vets in LA aren’t going to get transformed along with the deployment VA transformers. Seems like the best location for the cross-functional teams to practice triaging and more.
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“The 12 regional offices to begin the deployment of the transformation initiatives include: Huntington, W.Va.; Hartford, Conn.; Portland, Ore.; Houston, Texas; Cleveland, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; Boise, Idaho; Phoenix, Ariz.; New Orleans, La.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Atlanta, Ga.; Newark, N.J. This deployment follows four pilot programs at Indianapolis, Ind., Wichita, Kan., Milwaukee, Wis., and Fort Harrison, Mont., in 2012.”