Veteran Affairs released a request for information Friday for a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) patient scheduling system to replace the existing one, which was partially blamed for significant wait times for veterans trying to see a physician.

The department found itself embroiled in scandal earlier this year when it was revealed that several veterans died while waiting for treatment, while at the same time employees altered or falsified wait lists at a number of VA hospitals.

As part of the fix, VA is looking for a scheduling system to integrate with the existing Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA). The RFI documents specify the need for a scheduling system, as well as the work necessary to integrate the new system.

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"We are looking for a commercially available solution of something that is already out there and already in play. It is already being used to do scheduling," VA CIO Stephen Warren said. "The only development we're looking for is the connection between that product and our existing business systems."

While scheduling might seem like a baseline capability, the RFI points out that the scope of VA coverage makes it a significant undertaking.

"Medical scheduling is complex in that it requires coordination across medical services while enforcing business rules," the RFI states, providing some background. "VistA Scheduling was built in the early 1980s as an inpatient care scheduling system with few embedded business rules. Today's VHA care delivery is dramatically different from the past with the majority of appointments scheduled for outpatient care. In fiscal year 2013 approximately 8.9 million of the 21.9 million living veterans in the nation were enrolled in the VA health care system. VHA's 50,000 users scheduled over 100 million appointments in FY2014 for this Veteran population. Serving this volume requires state of the art capacity management tools and a solution that provides for efficient scheduling to meet Veteran demand."

Once contracting officials review the documents — due Jan. 9 — a committee will cull the selections down to a few vendors who will then demonstrate their systems to the VA schedulers that will be using it day-to-day.

"So it is not folks who sit at headquarters, it is going to be individuals who do scheduling day in and day out so we can make sure the functionalities that are claimed are delivered," Warren said. "We will have technical folks there just to make sure the connection pieces are also dealt with, but the primary focus is usability."

The RFI lists seven core capabilities prospective vendors must be able to deliver:

■ Configuring standard national operating parameters that can be tailored to meet local needs.

■ Managing requests for care. Storing the date of the request and preferred date for the appointment for subsequent reporting.

■ Managing appointments with the ability to execute, monitor and report on appointment, cancellation, reschedule and notification processes.

■ Managing Veteran patient information to include patient preference and special needs information.

■ Coordinating care to include monitoring of appointment check-in activities, encounter events, check-out activities and associating ancillary appointments.

■ Integrating services across the local VA Medical Center or VA Health Care System, including associated health care facilities.

■ Producing capacity management reports for resources and work force utilization throughout the scheduling operation.

The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract would have a five-year base with two optional one-year add-ons.

"When it comes to the care of our Veterans, we want the best technology the American marketplace can provide," VA Secretary Robert McDonald said. "A new and innovative scheduling system is an essential tool we must have in place to enable us to provide our Veterans with timely and high quality health care."

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