Online Scheduling Enhances the VA Health Care Experience

VA Online Scheduling, formerly known as Veterans Appointment Request, is an online tool that provides Veterans greater control over managing their health care by scheduling their own primary care appointments. The tool shows appointment availability and allows Veterans to book health care appointments online in real time.

OIT, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and Digital Service team members worked with Veterans and clinicians to design, test, and deploy VA Online Scheduling. Through usability testing, the team members addressed existing issues to allow Veterans to take full advantage of the tool’s benefits and functionality.

The successful collaboration among OIT, VHA, and Digital Service is evident in the user counts. Over the course of 2018, Veterans have scheduled, requested, or canceled approximately 16,000 appointments per month. By streamlining the existing platform, VA was able to enhance core processes and improve the Veterans’ access to care and is empowering patients to manage their own health care experience.