Veterans in Arkansas are seeing their federal benefits claims processed 60 percent faster than four years ago, an achievement officials attribute in part to initiatives by the local Department of Veterans Affairs benefits branch.
In January 2013, the federal VA's Little Rock Regional Benefit Office in North Little Rock took 250 days to process a new claim. Today, it takes 97 days.
In the past four years, the branch has spearheaded new agency initiatives, like digitizing claims records, creating a special project team to solve systemwide problems and allowing veterans to work through their cases remotely via videoconferencing.
Officials in Washington, D.C., have taken notice of the local branch's success, authorizing it this year to hire 35 additional claims workers.
Lisa Breun, director of the regional office, said her staff's passion for helping veterans is the reason for the branch's success. Breun, who has worked at VA facilities across the U.S., took the helm of the office five years ago.
"We're always willing to put our hand up and try new things for our veterans," she said.
While wait times have decreased, the number of claims has steadily climbed over the past 10 years. Younger veterans are more aware of VA options available to them, while older veterans -- like those who served in the Vietnam War -- are presumed to receive benefits for a wider range of ailments, Breun said.
Seven of the top 10 afflictions that kill American men can be linked to exposure to Agent Orange, a chemical defoliant used in Vietnam, which automatically qualifies most veterans for benefits, according to the VA.
While dealing with more and more claims, benefits offices often find themselves the target of complaints from disgruntled former military members, who may feel a claim was wrongly denied or is taking too long to resolve. But Kim Godeaux, public affairs director at the regional office, said Little Rock Regional Benefit Office workers have started hearing from veterans surprised at how fast claims were resolved.
Don Berry, a retired Air Force colonel and member of the Arkansas Veterans Coalition, said the office is "very valuable," even though many veterans in Arkansas may not realize it.
"I'm not sure we appreciate how much they are a leader in the [Veterans Benefits Administration]," he said. "In benefits, 55 people could've gotten their benefits on time, but that's not news."
Once the VA began digitizing inactive claims records, Breun and the regional office took advantage of the opportunity. It was one of the first offices to go paperless, and the rest of the federal agency is following its footsteps, hoping to scan all paper claims records by the end of 2018, according to a news release.
The modernization effort not only saves money on the cost of storing the paper records, it also makes the records easier to locate, freeing up time for employees to work on other tasks, Breun said.
Sandra Flint, continental district director for the Veterans Benefits Administration, praised the Little Rock office for being an agency leader.
"Our Little Rock VA Regional Office has been in the forefront of going digital and working in a paperless environment," she said through a spokesman. "The result has been a more efficient and effective claims adjudication process. Throughout VA, our focus is creating a positive experience for the veteran with every interaction and modernization is one of the ways to accomplish this."
The office also has been at the forefront of the emerging telebenefits program, which allows veterans in far-flung areas of the state to speak face-to-face with VA employees about their claims. In the past year, the central Arkansas office has rolled out the program at community-based VA health-care centers in Searcy and Texarkana, and it plans to soon expand the service to Pine Bluff and El Dorado, Breun said.
The sessions are held one day each week in those cities, saving those veterans a trip to Building 65, at the rear of the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center in North Little Rock, to speak to claims workers.
The program will continue to expand, Breun said, to other VA-operated community clinics, but she hopes eventually to expand to other types of facilities. The agency's vocational rehabilitation program, for example, uses the technology at several college campuses.
In addition, the agency still sees 80 to 100 veterans in person every day at Building 65.
On a recent afternoon, Breun walked through the office exchanging pleasantries with veterans waiting to be seen by her staff. She remarked how each new initiative seemingly led to the next.
"The better we do, the better we'll be able to do," Breun said.
A Section on 05/22/2017