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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) new Benefits Intake application programming interface (API) is speeding up the submission of Veterans’ claims.
Case management systems used by a growing number of Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) are connecting to the API, allowing their users to digitally submit PDF documents directly to VA for processing at the push of a button. Last week, the Benefits Intake API reached a new weekly milestone of 900 submissions.
“Customer service to Veterans is one of my core values and by using technology like this, VA continues to improve service to countless Veterans,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Every document received through this API saves taxpayer money and helps VA deliver faster decisions to Veterans.”
Prior to launching the Benefits Intake API in 2018, VA received 65% of claims via paper or fax. Since launch, VA has received over 20,000 packets and 50,000 pages of documents from VSOs integrating with the API.
The Benefits Intake API was built collaboratively by VA’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT), the Veteran Benefits Administration (VBA), and VSOs to help Veterans send documents to VA quickly and securely. The Benefits Intake API is built on VA’s Lighthouse API platform, which supports standards-based APIs that are easy-to-use and facilitate collaboration with core VA business owners, developers, VSOs, and Veterans.
Recently, DataSpec Inc. partnered with VBA to connect their case management software, VetraSpec, to the Benefits Intake API. VetraSpec is the largest veteran claims processing software in the nation, with nearly 4,000 users (and growing) spanning state and county offices.
For more information, visit the Lighthouse VA developer portal.
The Benefits Intake API is one of many ways OIT is driving innovation and enhancing the customer experience to make a difference in the lives of Veterans. OIT’s new It Starts With Us campaign highlights these stories of exceptional IT customer service.
