Ensuring America’s 18.25 million Veterans have access to the benefits they have earned

The Department of Veterans Affairs

Services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are essential to the 18.25 million Veterans and their families in the United States. The Veterans Health Administration, which operates under the VA, is the most extensive healthcare system in the U.S., serving around 9 million Veterans annually through its 1,200 facilities.

The partnership between USDS and the VA began in response to a customer service crisis at the VA. At that time, Veterans were experiencing long waits and obstacles in almost every interaction, from enrolling in benefits to receiving healthcare. In early 2015, USDS began a long-term engagement with the VA to address these issues.

Currently, USDS is working with the VA’s Office of the CTO to improve Veterans’ lives by developing better software using efficient design, engineering, and product management. The most significant and impactful collaborations include the redesign of VA.gov, which receives 20 million site visitors annually, and creating the popular and highly-rated Health and Benefits Mobile app, which provides simplified, personalized access to commonly used services.

Impact

VA’s digital modernization work is an important aspect of the agency’s effort to build Veteran trust in the VA. Since the relaunch of VA.gov in 2018, overall trust score has risen from 70.4% in FY18 to 79.3% at the end of FY23.

VA.gov

• 19 million monthly unique VA.gov users
• 1.7 million monthly unique signed-in users
• VA website customer satisfaction has increased by over 12%

Health and Benefits mobile app

• 2.14 million lifetime app downloads
• 960,400 monthly active users
• 1.4 million monthly appointment detail views
• 4.8-star rating
• 112,000 ratings