[CST] Determine content revisions for CST intro page language to accurately convey what's in CST

[jacobworrell]

Value Statement

As a person who has landed on the CST intro page for any reason I want to be able to read the content on the page and know exactly which types of claims will show up in the CST So that I know I can rely on it to check the status of these things and not rely on it for claims and applications it can't provide information for.

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Background Context

The CST intro page says a bunch of stuff and some of it does not appear to be true. For example, it suggests veterans can check the status of VRE claims, but the data coming out of DD does not suggest that's an application type that shows in the tool. We've been provided a massive spreadsheet ( clm lbl.xlsx )of EP codes and their descriptions and we also can pull DD logs that show exactly what EP codes and descriptions are actually coming through in the CST product.

One hypothesis is that claims processed through VBMS are able to be shown in the tool (for appeals Caseflow), but claims processed in other systems are not. This makes sense based on what we know about how the services upstream from CST function and connect to BIS and VBMS. If this hypothesis is true, we could identify which claim/application types get adjudicated in other systems and rule them out as types that can show up in CST.

We also have access to the VBA guidebook that contains descriptions for all EP codes (VPN required): https://vaww.vrm.km.va.gov/system/templates/selfservice/va_kanew/help/agent/locale/en-US/portal/554400000001034/content/554400000011474/Appendix-B-End-Product-EP-Codes

We should rely on VBA SMEs to help us investigate this, specifically Andrew Gray.

CST “What claim/application content actually shows to end users?” technical discovery We most need to know at the moment:

• Documentation how you’d find this out given a VA Form #
• Correcting the list at the CST landing page
• VA Forms 686c & 674 (Add or Remove Dependents)
• VA Forms Ch 36 25-8832 (Personalized Career Planning and Guidance (PCPG)) and Ch 31 28-1900 (VR&E)
• Also, but less common, and less urgent
• VA DIC Dependency & Indemnity Compensation

Design

• Add here

Engineering

• Add here

Out of scope

• Add here

Open questions

• Add here

Tasks

• [x] Map DD EP code data to spreadsheet to identify the finite claim types that actually are showing to users
• [x] Verify whether only claims processed in VBMS can technically show up in CST
• [x] Identify which claim types mentioned on the intro page don't actually show up in CST
• [x] Identify claim types that show up in CST that are not mentioned on the intro page
• [x] Discuss results with enablement team
• [x] Make recommendations on content edits

Definition of Done

• [x] Meets acceptance criteria

Acceptance Criteria

• [x] We have determined which claim types can show up in CST with 95% confidence and have documented what they are.
• [x] We have determined which claim types CAN'T show up in CST with 95% confidence and have documented what they are.
• [x] Based on what we know can and cannot show, we make specific recommendations for how to revise the content on the CST intro page to be more accurate.

### Tasks
- [ ] https://github.com/department-of-veterans-affairs/va.gov-team/issues/82379

[skylerschain]

@laurwill I wonder if you might be able to help us out with this.

We have identified that at least one of the things listed here in "What types of claims, decision reviews, and appeals can I check in this tool?" is not in fact available.

I'm wondering if your team might have a paper trail for this page. We are trying to figure out if all this information is still accurate, and there's no record of all the claim types that do in fact show up in CST.

Would your team be able to help us verify this list and update it to make sure it's accurate?

[laurwill]

Hi @skylerschain , The list of claim types has been live since this page was migrated into the modernized VA.gov back in 2019 — I'll see if I can do a bit of digging about the initial content development.

So are you saying that there's nothing in the data you're receiving that identifies the type of benefit a claim is for?

[skylerschain]

Well we do have this list from the BGS backend service, but it's a little hard to tell if these terms match what is on the page.

Administrative Review Appeal Appeal for Birth Defects Appeal for Spina Bifida Authorization Review Automobile Adaptive Equipment Automobile Allowance Automotive Adaptive Equipment Award Audit Birth Defects Burial Camp Lejeune Verification Character of Discharge LGY Character of Discharge Review Clothing Allowance Comp and Pen Compensation Compensation and Pension Compensation Pension Correspondence D2D Pre-Discharge Excluded Death Dental Dependency Dependency Verification - 0538 Discharge for Disability LGY Due Process Duplicate Payments eBenefits BDD eBenefits Pre-Discharge Excluded eBenefits Quick Start Economic Recovery Payment - Entitlement Review EDU Eligibility Rating Education efolder Creation Eligibility Determination Fiduciary Fiduciary Adjustment Filipino Equity Compensation Freedom of Information Act / Privacy Act Request Fugitive Felon Review Hospitalization Adjustment Hospitalization Eligibility Review ID Card Incarceration Adjustment Income Verification Incomplete Application Insurance Insurance Eligibility IVM Matching Loan Guaranty Eligibility Medal of Honor Verification Military Pay in Lieu of Compensation Month of Death Entitlement Review NICS Relief Request Outpatient Treatment Eligibility Paid and Due Pay Grade Verification Pension PMC - Incomplete Application PMC Duplicate Payments PMC Removal of Dependent Pre-Discharge Compensation Predetermination Preference Certificate Prison Match Review Quality Control Quick Pay Rating Review Regulatory or Procedural Review Remand with BVA Grant Removal of Dependent Renouncement of Benefits REPS Resumption of Compensation Retired Pay Adjustment Retired Pay Waiver or Election Return to Active Duty Review Review Due to Hospitalization Social Security Request Special Adaptive Housing/Special HSG Adaptation Special Correspondence Special Home Adaptation Specially Adapted Housing Spina Bifida Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment VOW Waiver Request Work Item Work Study Workers Compensation Your Whereabouts are Unknown

[laurwill]

Hi @skylerschain , unfortunately we don't have the information you're looking for about what types of claims appear in the tool. But we think Julie Strothman may already be looking into this same issue, if you want to connect with her.

When you confirm which claim types are included, we can update the static page with that information.

[jstrothman]

@skylerschain @laurwill It's true, Laura, that I'm interested in confirming which types of claims appear in the tool, but I don't have ideas about whom to check with next.

[laurwill]

Hi @skylerschain @jstrothman , this question came up again in our work with the Add or change dependents form. Were you ever able to confirm exactly which types of claims appear in the CST? cc @katherine-fung

[DanielleThierryUSDSVA]

Hi all. @jstrothman confirmed that we should remove VA health care from this list. We've updated and published, removing health care and updating the intro to note that you can check the status of "certain claims, decision reviews, and appeals."

cc @laurwill @katherine-fung

[jacobworrell]

@laurwill We are now able to track the claim data types coming through in CST in DataDog, so we can do a dedicated analysis of the reality and make some solid recs based on that. I've updated the ticket language to be more targeted and focused on the team's likely activities.

[jacobworrell]

@laurwill @DanielleThierryUSDSVA Thank you for your patience waiting for us to investigate this issue thoroughly. The results are in, we've identified the specific claim types that show up in CST and have content edit suggestions in light of those findings. We've run these content suggestions by @jstrothman and a VBA SME and they approve these suggestions.

Attached is a word doc that hopefully makes clear what we're proposing as changes to the CST landing page. Please let me know if I should open a separate content request ticket for this (and if that's the case, please point me to the best template for this).

Proposed Edits for CST Intro Page - VBA approved.docx

[laurwill]

Hi @jacobworrell , I think the doc you attached is corrupted, could you attach again?

[jacobworrell]

Hah, yikes! No idea why that is happening.

Let's try this, I shared this doc with the email in your Slack profile. Same exact content and hopefully more accessible to you. @laurwill

[laurwill]

Thanks! I made 2 small edits to the list intros in the doc — the first list is now "types of benefits" and the second list is now "types of requests."

Here's a preview in the draft page:

Which VBA SME are you working with? These are pretty minor edits I made, but we usually send a preview for approval before publishing.

[jacobworrell]

I'm working with Andrew Gray @laurwill I think those edits look great and doubt we'll get any pushback on them.

[laurwill]

Hi @jacobworrell , great, since SME saw the substantive changes and my edits were minor, I went ahead and published. Let us know if you need anything else related to this page!

[laurwill]

Hi again @jacobworrell @jstrothman , following up on a recent slack convo about the VR&E form — is there a process to notify product teams that we've removed their forms from the list of things appearing in the CST? Is that something your team would do? I'm thinking that other teams like education, etc, whose forms got removed may still be linking Veterans to the CST to check status.

[jstrothman]

@laurwill Thank you for mentioning this--I'll reach out to the teams and suggest they check their confirmation pages and any email notifications for the need to remove links.

[laurwill]

Great, thanks Julie! And we'll keep an eye out on the CAIA side for content in emails, forms, etc that needs updating, so we can fix anything we come across in our travels.

[laurwill]

Hi again @jacobworrell , we're auditing our static pages for links to the CST that we'll need to remove to align with the updated list, and I had a follow-up question: the education and life insurance hub pages link to the CST, but the text specifies "to track the status of your benefits appeal."

Did VBA SMEs confirm whether the updated list applies only to initial claims/requests for the listed types? Could appeals and decision reviews for life insurance, education, or other benefit types appear in the CST?

[laurwill]

Hi @jacobworrell @jstrothman , just checking in on this last question — do decision reviews and appeals for a wider range of VA benefits appear in the CST? Or does the tool only show decision reviews and appeals related to the initial claim types in the updated list?

[jacobworrell]

@jerekshoe do we know what type of appeals and decision review information CaseFlow sends back?

[jerekshoe]

Caseflow sends us Supplemental Claims, Higher Level Reviews, Appeals and Legacy Appeals. It’s difficult to determine more granularly what types are returned beyond that with the information available to us currently. If we wanted to get more insight into this then we would want to set up tracking in DataDog similar to what we did for benefits claims

[laurwill]

@jerekshoe what's the difference between Appeals and Legacy Appeals? Does Appeals = Board Appeals?

I think it would be worthwhile to set up whatever tracking we need to get this more granular information, so that we can avoid directing Veterans to the claim status tool for things that don't show up there.

We also can't be sure that our page content is accurate if we can't answer this question — the page currently says we get decision reviews and appeals only for the types of initial claims that show up in the tool. If we actually get decision reviews and appeals for all types of claims, we should change this asap.