VA Aims to Build a More Connected Digital Experience for Veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs is upgrading its digital infrastructure to better serve veterans through improved access to information on VA.gov and the continued rollout of its Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program, VA leadership said Friday at GovCIO Media & Research’s VA Modernization Forum.

These improvements are part of an ongoing, incremental modernization process informed by user feedback. While the changes may be gradual, they can have a significant impact across the department and for the millions of veterans it serves, said VA Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence.

“We find a process that’s slow, a system that’s outdated or a step that shouldn’t be there, and we fix it. We make processes more efficient, systems more reliable, and services faster and more acceptable. And that’s work VA does well,” Lawrence said.

The remarks come amid an agency plan to integrate modern technology and improve the speed at which claims and services are processed.

In 2026, VA processed a record 3.11 million disability compensation claims. The claims backlog has also been reduced from more than 264,000 claims pending for more than 125 days when President Donald Trump took office to slightly more than 74,000 as of this month, Lawrence said.

The average time to decide claims is now less than 70 days, compared to more than 140 days in 2025. He added that VA also plans to reduce the benefits application process from 18 steps to six by December.

Rolling out the EHRM

One of VA’s most significant undertakings is the resumption of its nationwide Electronic Health Record Modernization rollout. Since its initial relaunch in Michigan in April, Lawrence noted that the EHRM system has been installed at approximately 13 facilities across the country, with another 26 scheduled to go live in 2027. The system is active in 19 medical centers, supporting 42,000 providers serving more than 780,000 veterans.

“It is safe, it is reliable and it’s delivering for veterans and providers the benefits we promised,” Lawrence said.

The goal of the EHR is to provide a single medical record that follows a veteran from military service through VA and community care for the rest of their life. Such a collection of data can also help researchers identify and track illnesses affecting the veteran community.

The EHR was never just about turning paper records into electronic ones, he said. The effort represents something more consequential — the potential to change what medicine knows about diseases, how early they can be detected and how effectively they can be treated.

Nothing about the underlying technology has changed, he added. What has shifted is the questions being asked and the distinction between incremental and transformational modernization.

“There are two different questions we can ask of the same work. The incremental question is how do we do this better. The transformational question is now that we can do this, what else is possible?” Lawrence asked.

Improvements Built on Veteran Feedback

VA’s ongoing modernization efforts, including the relaunch of its redesigned VA.gov website on Veterans Day, have been informed by feedback from veterans.

To improve the site, researchers worked with 120 veterans over six months. Participants reviewed early designs, tested new functionality and provided feedback to developers about what worked and what needed improvement.

How veterans use VA.gov changes throughout their lives. Anthony Consoldane, a VA IT specialist who participated in the research, noted that when he first left the Air Force, he used the site to explore GI Bill opportunities for college. He later used it to help buy a house. Now that he is older, Consoldane said ordering prescriptions and consulting with doctors are his primary uses.

Improvements informed by this feedback include more efficient document uploads, AI-powered natural language search that allows veterans to describe what they are looking for conversationally and greater compatibility across web browsers.

Improved Site Access

One of the new enhancements to VA.gov is the option to use CLEAR’s biometric identity verification system to access the site. VA partnered with CLEAR, which installed its airport-style identity verification pods at six facilities.

The system allows veterans to create an ID through the site by taking a photo of themselves with their cellphones and uploading it. It then conducts a series of biometric and location-based tests to verify the photo, as well as the location and ownership of the device used to upload it, said Jeff Valeo, CLEAR’s chief product and technology officer.

With the advent of AI-based tools, it is becoming easier to create artificial identities, making identity verification a cybersecurity issue, Valeo explained.

“We’ve taken great lengths to really push the envelope. So everything from pushing the standards to make sure [they] are the highest identity standards that you can have, all the way through to making it a frictionless experience,” Valeo said.

Upcoming Tech Milestones at VA

VA will continue modernizing VA.gov over the next year, with improvements extending beyond user authentication, said Zack Schwartz, VA’s principal deputy assistant secretary for information and technology. He noted that much of this work involves improving the back-office functions that VA staff rely on.

Additional software and modernization upgrades are planned for January, he added.

“We’ll have more releases, but really excited to start getting in this cadence of regular incremental wins — not science projects, not two-year-long projects — just incremental wins,” Schwartz said.

VA will also look for promising new capabilities from industry to better serve veterans. Schwartz encouraged industry to provide feedback and ideas for improvement.

“We want to know what’s out there, and if it’s going to be better for the veteran, we’re all in,” he said.