I believe they were talking about addressing a backlog and the actions that they took to reduce the backlog of files, but reducing the backlog isn't necessarily reducing the wait time. There is a backlog. Our report highlights a little over 40,000 files in a backlog for different reasons. About 50,000 or so files in the last year were processed. That isn't measuring the outcome against not only your service standard but the expectations of the veteran. There's a commitment to provide a decision within 16 weeks or approximately four months. Even though you've reduced the backlog, if the average wait time is till 39 weeks or 10 months, you haven't met that promise to the veterans. The indicator that you have on your website to give them a sense of how long they should expect to wait isn't very useful for them if it's so far off. It isn't just about addressing the backlog.
I do consider it a success for every file that's closed and a veteran gets a decision, but it should also be about reducing how long it takes for them to have to wait for that decision.