Barrett Applauds Trump Administration’s Expansion of Faster VA Appointment Scheduling

Washington, D.C. — Congressman Tom Barrett (MI-07) today applauded the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) announcement that all VA facilities are now using a simplified scheduling interface to book appointments for veterans more quickly. The news aligns with the goal of legislation Barrett is leading, the Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act (H.R. 3482), which recently passed out of committee.

"The VA's expansion of the streamlined scheduling system is welcome news for veterans," said Barrett. "Too often, veterans are left waiting while staff place lots of phone calls back and forth between veterans and providers to find available community care appointments. I personally experienced this frustration, which is why I introduced the Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act last year. I'm proud the VA is adopting the reforms from my bill, and I will continue pushing to get this bill signed into law to make sure these improvements are fully and permanently implemented for every veteran.”

The External Provider Scheduling (EPS) system is a single digital interface that enables VA staff to simultaneously view available appointments at participating community care providers — health care providers outside the VA. The unified system allows staff to find veterans the best, earliest available appointment at either the VA or a community care provider, reducing wait times. The VA also announced that it is getting more community care providers to share their appointment information for EPS.

Under the previous system, the process to book an appointment for a veteran could take days or weeks as a result of VA staffers only being able to book a handful of community care appointments each day. The EPS system will enable all VA employees to book as many as 25 appointments per day. The system has existed for several years, but it was previously not deployed at most VA facilities.

The Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act (H.R. 3482), which Barrett introduced last May, would permanently reduce health care wait times for veterans by mandating nationwide implementation of EPS.

Currently, 27,000 community care providers have already opted to share their scheduling information for EPS, and the VA is continuing to expand that list. Providers can learn more about how to participate by clicking here.

Click here for more information on Barrett’s Community Care Scheduling Act.