[CONSIDER] Iterate on Facility Operating Status

[mmiddaugh]

Product Outline

Link

Hypothesis or Bet

If incorporate Veteran feedback then it will be easier for Veterans to find and understand information about facility availability.

Actionable items from Veteran research

Link to findings

Short term recommendations (mostly business process related)

• Reserve ’Facility Closed’ for temporary or permanent facility closures where no services are available to Veterans.
• Use ‘Limited Hours and Services’ as the status for COVID related operating changes if virtual and telehealth services are available.
• Do not use ‘Facility Notice’ as a status for use in search results. It is too broad to communicate anything effectively.

Longer term recommendations (actionable by this team)

• Add timestamps to updates and time ranges to temporary changes that affect a facility.
• Surface and specify accurate facility hours and services more readily with less perceived ‘clicks’.
• Replace or extend the ‘Facility Notice’ category with more specific, self-explanatory categories. Participants used words like 'Health Notice', 'Weather Notice', 'Emergency Notice', 'Holiday Schedule', 'Emergency and construction operations', 'Rules', 'Patient Information' to categorize the types of scenarios that affect a facilities operating status.
• Consider the red styling from detail page instead of pink styling to communicate the severity of ‘Facility Closed’. Some users missed the alert entirely and pointed out that the red, bolder styling matched their expectations.

Additional use cases related to new/closing facility management

Because the longer term goal is to open or sunset facilities more gracefully than to simply turn them on/off like a light, we need to consider ways to fade in and out, such as

• Closing (or similar) - a way to indicate the facility is planning a closure or relocation in the future - possibly with a date and way to redirect to new location or website
  • this could be the first status in a runbook for archiving, displayed for a set period of time before the status changes to Permanently closed
• Permanently closed - a way to indicate the facility is no longer providing services but with a method to direct Veterans needing services - this could become automated and displayed for a given period before archiving the location entirely
• Coming soon (or similar) - a way to make new facilities findable before they are completely open for business - this may need to include a timeframe and may need a different trigger not reliant on a VAST ID number

Different use case:

• Temporarily closed - a way to designate a longer period of closure for locations which are under construction, for example, but expected to reopen - this may need to include a timeframe
  • ^ possibly could benefit from a Coming soon version to advertise the planned opening

Take into consideration Accessibility/QA needs as well as Product, Technical, and Design requirements.

[davidmpickett]

May be additional lessons learned from COVID-19 Supplemental Status feature to consider

• https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-cms/issues/10389
• https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-cms/issues/9096

[mmiddaugh]

This iteration might also apply to Vet Center CAP communication needs

[mmiddaugh]

The following use cases and examples are from a review of status more info text currently in use across facility types

• Available by appointment only
• Virtual options
  • We're not open for in-person service at this time. Our staff are still available by phone and by our online customer service tool.
• Phone number emphasis or correction
  • To contact Mental health care please dial 901-523-8990 extension 7411.
  • The main phone and Mental Health Care phone lines have temporarily changed to 800-472-1365, ext. 2221. Please make a note of the temporary number. We are experiencing technical issues with our standard 575-exchange lines and this 800-number will temporarily resolve the issue.
• Location corrections
  • This location is NOT the Fort Worth VA Clinic and does not see patients.
  • This is NOT a VA Clinic. If you wish to contact the Community Resource and Referral Center, please call (843) 789-6500.
  • The North Bend Lab is closed indefinitely at this time. If you have questions or concerns regarding upcoming labs at the North Bend VA Clinic Lab, please contact your PACT team via My VA Health, by phone at 541-756-8002, or in person.
  • December 17 was the last day for operations here. This clinic has moved to the new Terre Haute VA Clinic. The new clinic is located at 5080 East Bill Farr Drive, Terre Haute, IN 47803-9306 https://www.va.gov/indiana-health-care/locations/terre-haute-va-clinic/
• Upcoming changes to facility
  • The parking garage adjacent to the Baltimore VA Annex at 213 W. Fayette Street will close May 5, 2023. Patients with appointments at the Baltimore VA Annex can park in the garage at the Baltimore VA Medical Center and take a free shuttle to and from the Baltimore VA Annex.
  • Our Primary Care service has expanded to a larger setting and the entrance now faces Hope Avenue, on the opposite side of Summer Street, at the back of the Medical Arts Center. Specialty Care services have moved into the former Primary Care location facing Mill Street.
• TRICARE/Lovell
  • Services for ACTIVE DUTY ONLY at this location.
• Vet Center CAP service details
  • Group and Individual Counseling is available at this location on Thursdays. Please call our main Vet Center at 570327-5281 before joining us for the first time.
  • Veterans connect with horses each week and progress together through basic groundwork skills. Services are available at this location by appointment only from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday. Veteran or service member are required to participate in the program here to receive counseling services.
  • The Vet Court is a specialized program to serve Veterans with trauma from serving in a war zone. Services are available at this location by appointment only 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday. Please Veteran or service member are required to participate in the program here to receive counseling services.
  • This site is only for inmates. Services are available to inmates by referral.
  • Access point location to open in early 2022.
• Special campus access info
  • Access to Fairchild AFB required.

[kmariepat-cityfriends]

Note: this may be considered for VBA fast follow

[kmariepat-cityfriends]

Note: this may be considered for VBA fast follow

[davidmpickett]

See also: https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-cms/issues/14546

[xiongjaneg]

@xiongjaneg To discuss with Dave, is this the same as the supplemental status issue.