Transforming Veteran Access to Care: An Overview of External Provider Scheduling (W6017)-Transforming Veteran Access to Care An Overview of External Provider Scheduling Recording

Transforming Veteran Access to Care An Overview of External Provider Scheduling Recording

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The Georgia Hospital Association hosted a briefing on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) External Provider Scheduling (EPS) program, now fully operational statewide. VA leaders and Georgia VA community care chiefs described EPS as a solution to reduce friction in moving veterans from referral to scheduled community appointments. The program connects VA schedulers directly to community providers’ real-time appointment availability through integrations with major EHR systems, allowing VA staff to book appointments 24/7 using only the slots providers choose to display and the booking rules providers set.<br /><br />Speakers emphasized that traditional scheduling often requires repeated phone calls and can take weeks; EPS has reduced scheduling time from days (or ~22–28 days nationally) to minutes (often under seven). Atlanta reported nearly 1,400 EPS appointments in a month with average scheduling time around six minutes. Sites also cited fewer no-shows (at least 15%, sometimes up to 50%) and less staff burnout for both VA and vendors. Georgia leaders highlighted the need to onboard more rural providers, noting over 220,000 community referrals in Georgia in the past year. The session concluded with a platform demo, security assurances (FedRAMP/HIPAA), and instructions for providers to contact the VA to enroll.

Keywords

Georgia Hospital Association briefing

VA External Provider Scheduling (EPS)

Veterans community care referrals

Real-time appointment availability integration

EHR scheduling interoperability

Reduced scheduling time and no-shows

FedRAMP and HIPAA security compliance