Thanks, Deputy. I'll try to keep it brief, as I know you have limited time.
It is really a two-track system. One is our being able to get additional human resources in a short-term period of time while we do the work on the back end to make sure we can improve and sustain the front-level productivity that we need going forward to address the volume of pending applications.
In a number of ways, we're doing a variety of things. I mentioned earlier, in response to one of the questions, that we want to limit the number of applications that are required to go for medical adjudication. In other words, we need to build tools that allow our front-line disability adjudication staff to make decisions the very first time it's being reviewed, and not refer it on to medical review. We're building those tools that will assist us in making more quick decisions on more front-end folks, and limit the number of files with which we're taxing our medical staff.
We're also changing the way in which we organize ourselves, in terms of the veterans benefit teams, by bringing in all the people who are required to make a decision on a file together, working together in an integrated team to ensure that the file never leaves and never gets referred anywhere else. Essentially, it stays within the group—that is, that team—to ensure it gets a decision as quickly as possible in going through that stage.
We're looking at innovative approaches as well, in terms of using technology and tools, to be able to review thousands of pages of health records—