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Travel reimbursement expansion

Implementing new travel reimbursement tools to expand Veterans’ options for filing for their travel pay

Background & Summary

Veterans often report that filing for travel reimbursement is both confusing and cumbersome. Until the addition of the Patient Check-in application, which included both checking in and filing for travel reimbursement for an appointment, previous methods were limited to filing using the BTSSS portal or by submitting a paper form.

 

With the success of Patient Check-in in helping Veterans easily file their appointment claim, and as part of the VA goal to expand access to travel reimbursement and increase the number of claims filed, our team worked on two initiatives meant to offer easier ways to file:

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  • LoROTA Standalone Travel Reimbursement: A standalone travel tool used on the day of an appointment at facilities that could not support Patient Check-in. LoROTA stands for the Low Risk One-Time Authentication method used - like that of Check-in. 

  • Past Appointments Travel Reimbursement: A feature on Appointments on VA.gov allowing Veterans to file for travel reimbursement for past appointments, later renamed Simple Mileage Only Claim (SMOC).

My Roles & Responsibilities

Staff Designer for Ad Hoc LLC, working on digital services for the Department of Veterans Affairs
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​LoROTA Standalone Travel Reimbursement - Designer

  • Worked with UX, engineering, product, and stakeholders to determine project scopes and facility needs to inform initiative direction

  • Worked with content and accessibility specialists to ensure quality across the tools

  • Completed discovery, user flows, low-fi wireframes, and high-fi mockups

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Past Appointments Travel Reimbursement - Researcher and Designer

  • Led cross-team discovery and research into how the Check-in user flow could be applied to Appointments on VA.gov to successfully introduce filing for travel reimbursement to the authenticated website experience. Teams involved included the Check-in Experience team, the Appointments team, the Beneficiary Travel team, and VAHB Mobile App team.

  • Consulted on resulting designs when they were later handed off to the newly formed beneficiary travel team and renamed Simple Mileage Only Claim (SMOC)​

Deliverables, Tools Used

Deliverables: Research materials (conversation guides, research plans, transcripts, synthesis Mural board) and findings report, user flow, low-fi wireframes, high-fi mockups, accessible CodePen prototype


Tools used: Figma, CodePen, Mural, User Research (remote, moderated) 
 

With the goal of running an accessible research study, I created this CodePen prototype that our team used in tandem with a Figma prototype, in order to test our first design iterations with blind and low-vision Veterans using screen readers and screen magnification. 

Accessible CodePen Prototype

Veterans have historically found the VA travel reimbursement ecosystem inefficient and difficult to navigate. Feedback often emphasized confusion around using the Beneficiary Travel Self-service System (BTSSS) and highlighted the time-consuming nature of filling out and delivering a paper claim form to the Beneficiary Travel Office - both of which were previously commonly-used methods for filing. Staff, as well, deal with complicated processes often requiring manual review of claims. In looking to improve the experience of filing, we were tasked with determining how to expand Veteran access to easier methods of filing, as well as increase the number of auto-adjudicated claims that did not need to be manually reviewed. 

Project Overview

Problem

Process

I was a part of multiple projects to address these problems, both of which expanded on Check-in application, a newer tool that allowed Veterans to check-in for their appointment and simultaneously file a mileage-only claim for that appointment by answering a few simple questions. These new methods included creating a day-of appointment travel reimbursement tool for VA facilities that could not offer Check-in, and implementing a version of the existing Check-in travel reimbursement flow to apply to past appointments found on va.gov. To do this, we engaged in research, discovery, technical troubleshooting, business discussions with stakeholders, and testing.

Solution

Our resulting tools offers a streamlined experience that addresses Veterans' concerns and travel reimbursement needs. LoROTA standalone travel offers an easy day-off solution for Veteran who prefer a smartphone-based, Check-in-like experience, while Past Appointment Travel Reimbursement, renamed Simple-Mileage Only Claims (SMOC), gives Veterans the opportunity to file for past appointments on VA.gov. Both of these tools could be used for claims requiring mileage only (no receipts), which account for the highest percent of claims, thus allowing all claims filed this way to be auto-adjudicated without manual approval.

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Conclusion + Future Opportunities

The adaption of Patient Check-in's simple-mileage only travel reimbursement user flow marked the beginning of many new ways for Veterans to easily file their claims. With these new filing options, we've seen a drastic increase in Veterans filing for travel reimbursement, and this work has led to many other multi-team improvements in the travel reimbursement space. The SMOC application was since expanded to accept complex claims (claims requiring receipts) on VA.gov, and the simple-mileage only version was added to the VA Health & Benefits Mobile App.

 

Through research, feedback analysis, and close work with VA stakeholders, teams continue to identify areas of improvement in order to make this historically difficult process faster and easier for Veterans to complete.

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