Assess Caseflow API for Interactive Decision Template

[lpciferri]

Background

The Board built an Interactive Decision Template (IDT), which populates Veteran data from VACOLS, text from the CFR and other "snippets" of language for decisions from an Access Database into one of the various decision templates in MS Word. All attorneys and judges are now using the IDT for legacy appeals decisions.

The decision process is as follows (note: this excludes outside medical opinion requests for now):

Options

Option 1

• Build a Caseflow API for IDT to use. Surface the same Veteran and appeal data it currently gets from VACOLS from Caseflow.

Option 2

Resources

Email from Marissa Caylor with IDT requests

1. An application programming interface (API) to allow the IDT to pull information related to VAIMA appeals from the Caseflow Queue database.

   • We have discussed developing APIs for the IDT with Lauren and Alex, but we don’t believe it’s on anyone’s list of things to do. We wanted to raise the need as something that could cause issues going into implementation. A testing period would be necessary.

2. A technical POC assigned to the IDT.

   • If there were someone Paul could contact to ask technical questions before we pursue technical solutions that touch on VADS products, that would greatly assist us in our planning and implementation strategy and process.

3. An API for IDT to automate upload of dispatched decisions to VBMS (eFolder).

   • Lower priority than the other two, but as part of our changes to the dispatch process, we have been in touch with many people at VBMS to discuss possible ways to automate the upload of Board decisions in dispatch. They indicated that we should explore whether we could use the API USDS has set up for eFolder. We have other options, but if this option would work, it would be preferable.

Decision template types

• Generic Decision and Remand template, which handles the bulk of the types of issues that the Board sees.
• There are other templates that use a different format or have different appellate rights and notice letters attached to them, like loan guaranty, life insurance, and attorney fees decisions, death dismissals, responses to motions alleging that the Board made a clear and unmistakable error in a prior decision, and decisions vacating Board decisions.
• VHA opinion and independent medical expert opinions templates. These are actually letters, and look nothing like the Board’s decisions and remands, and they go through the Board using a different process (through the Outside Medical Opinion Office), but are also tracked using VACOLS.

[lpciferri]

closing - will track everything in #5590