Community care
Helping Veterans schedule community care appointments online from their approved referrals
Background & Summary
Emerging from the Cleland-Dole Act – which addresses Veteran homelessness, access to care, community care, mental health, research, telehealth, prostate cancer, provider oversight and transparency, long-term care, rural health, benefits, information technology and more – this initiative aims to expand Veteran access to care by allowing Veterans to directly schedule a community care appointment from an approved referral via VA.gov or the VA Health & Benefits mobile app.
The underlying goal of this initiative was to expand Veteran access to timely care. Our team, composed of designers, engineers, product folks, and content and accessibility specialists, took on two pilot phases for this work. We completed extensive discovery and research with Veterans, navigated business challenges, and addressed numerous technical constraints. Our improvements, while some are still in progress, have already opened up new possibilities for online scheduling and improved Veterans' visibility into their approved referrals.
My Roles & Responsibilities
Staff Designer for Ad Hoc LLC, working on digital services for the Department of Veterans Affairs
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Phase 1 Pilot: One of three lead designers and researchers leading design discovery, Veteran-facing research, business discussions, and VA Collaboration Cycle reviews.
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Phase 2 Pilot: Project point person leading a team of designers and collaborating with product, engineering, and stakeholders to carry out a rapid and highly visible initiative pivot.
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Worked with content team and VAHB mobile app team to sync designs and timeline
In the phase 2 pilot, I led an all-hands-on-deck, cross-team collaboration to design and launch an updated version of our pilot 1 userflow, all within a short timeframe of approximately three two-week sprints.
Used in usability testing with Veterans
Pilot 1 MVP Prototype
Deliverables, Tools Used & Timeline
Deliverables: Research materials (conversation guides, research plans, transcripts, synthesis Mural board) and findings report, low-fi wireframes, high-fi mockups, accessible CodePen prototype, Figma prototype, Mural service map, Veteran feedback survey
Tools used: Figma, CodePen, Mural, User Research (remote unmoderated and remote moderated)
Timeline: Pilot 1: February 2024 - March 2026, Pilot 2: Beginning March 2026
Brainstorming and collaboration
Team FigJam board used by UX, Engineering, and Product. This board allowed us to work together on visuals (userflows, low-fi digital sketches, content suggestions, and more) when working through problems and proactively avoid confusion that can arise during purely verbal conversations.
Project Overview
Problem
During our initial discovery into the previous scheduling process (the current process for Veterans outside of the pilot sites), we found many pain points for both staff and Veterans. This earlier process required multiple phone calls or manual interventions from staff and relied on numerous systems that could not smoothly operate together.
Key Objectives
Our goal with this work was to remove some of these manual dependencies and make scheduling community care appointments from a referral easier and less time-consuming for both Veterans and staff.
Process
In order to surface associated referral information from which Veterans could then schedule appointments, our team developed a comprehensive service map of the entire process and began integrating our systems with new staff-facing scheduling systems.
We spoke to Veterans and staff throughout the process. We completed an initial usability study, held walkthroughs from scheduling staff, and observed live production testing in which Veterans went to their accounts and tried out the scheduling process as our team observed. Our early research was integral to our proposed user flow and designs, which continued to evolve as we encountered and addressed new technical and business challenges. Pilot Phase 1 resulted in our proposed approach being introduced at designated pilot facilities.
For Pilot Phase 2, we pivoted to new pilot sites with updated staff systems that could allow us to introduce additional scope to the project, most notably the option to select a provider or clinic of choice from either community care or VA care, a significant expansion. This phase required a fast turnaround, and I led the UX team in working sessions in which we worked through questions and problems together and created user flow options live with engineers, product owners and stakeholders. Though not our usual way of working, this approach allowed us to move quickly and get all questions and blockers out in the open.
Solution
Our resulting tool satisfies the Cleland Dole Act requirements while offering an experience that addresses Veterans' scheduling needs. To use the tool, Veterans receive an SMS notification, from which they can navigate to their approved and active referrals and schedule their first referral-based appointment entirely online. Though Veterans will still have the option to talk to staff if needed, this process allows them to schedule appointments without relying on staff for assistance.
The user experience for the Phase 1 Pilot began with a community care provider already selected, and the Phase 2 Pilot will further remove staff involvement by adding a provider list from which Veterans can select their provider of choice. Veterans will also have the option to select VA care clinics in addition to community care providers. These changes greatly expand Veteran choice and access to care.
Documenting our source of truth
Used to keep team members and stakeholders aligned, our "Latest Design" documentation in Figma allowed us to definitively document our most recent userflow and high-fidelity wireframes, removing confusion around decisions and version history.
Conclusion + Future Opportunities
The changes completed for this initiative helped improve the Veteran experience around managing and scheduling appointments, and introduced somewhere for Veterans to review their approved referrals.
The team continues to apply human-centered design principles to this work, with fast-follows already in motion and larger iterations upcoming. Future iterations will be informed by a Veteran survey we'll include in the updated MVP, as well as additional research we hope to complete, as more research could greatly benefit the tool's effectiveness and help identify and remaining pain points.