VA to Kick Off Hunt For New Patient Scheduling System Next Month

The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking a “cutting-edge” commercial, off-the-shelf scheduling system to replace the clunky legacy module that helped mire the agency in controversy over long wait times faced by veterans seeking care. By the end of September, VA plans to issue a solicitation for a new system to manage the scheduling of veterans’ medical appointments.

Contractors will have 30 days to respond to the request-for-proposals, and VA expects to issue an award by the end of the calendar year. “We want this process to be open to all eligible vendors to make sure the nation’s veterans have the full benefits the innovative marketplace has to offer,” VA Secretary Robert McDonald, who’s been on the job about a month, said in a statement. “When we can put a solid scheduling system in place, this will free up more human resources to focus on direct veterans’ care.”

While the full RFP won’t be issued until next month, VA said it plans to issue a draft RFP some time before then to gather more input from vendors and other stakeholders.