Thank you, Charlotte.
l would just like to pick up on a few points that my colleague made and demonstrate the effect these initiatives are having in the field from a client service point of view.
As part of our transformation initiatives, we have been cutting red tape for our veterans, and they are getting decisions more quickly. One of the contributing elements of our success to date has been our investments in strengthening our case management services.
Case managers and other front-line staff work closely with veterans on a daily basis. They are very much the face of the department for many of our clients. Case management has been strengthened through the introduction of an enhanced case management tool. This newly enhanced tool encourages a holistic approach to case planning, eliminates unnecessary duplication of information, and is overall much more navigable and user-friendly, resulting in better case planning. And better case planning means better care for our clients.
In addition to better tools, front-line staff have also been delegated more authority. Case managers now have the ability to approve more benefits for veterans, resulting in more timely access to rehabilitation, health, and treatment benefits. This means many decisions no longer have to flow through the regional office or head office levels for approval.
As well, workload intensity tools have been developed to help front-line staff balance fair and equitable caseloads. The roles and responsibilities of case managers and client service agents are being more clearly defined so that each group can effectively focus on their designated tasks.
Looking to the future, the changes we are making will continue to eliminate unnecessary red tape as we strive to deliver better and faster service to veterans and their families. These changes will also allow our department to continue to meet or exceed our service standard of one case manager for every 40 case-managed veterans.
Reducing complexity is another way our department is transforming. As indicated by Charlotte, we have completely re-engineered our treatment benefits program by eliminating the requirement for subsequent pre-authorizations for more than 75% of our treatment benefits. Veterans will no longer need to contact VAC again for future requests for an already authorized benefit. It will also help to significantly reduce the number of claims requiring authorizations, which will ensure veterans and service providers receive faster payments for treatment benefits. Just think about the time, energy, and money that this process will save over the long term.
Another example Charlotte mentioned regarding ways in which we have improved service delivery to our veterans is our phone service—as we call it, the national client contact network and treatment authorization centre network. The NCCN/TAC network is a toll-free call centre for our clients and for our service providers.
It has certainly been a year of change for the network. A number of new initiatives were put into place to transform operations to improve service. Examples include the installation of a new telephony system, which allows a call to go to a first available agent anywhere in the country. We invested in a workforce management tool, which is a technology that allows us to predict call volume and ensure adequate workforce to meet our demand. We also implemented estimated wait-time messaging for callers, which allows callers to hear a message within five seconds, as soon as our wait times exceed two minutes.
I am pleased to report that we have made significant strides in improving the service. Since the investment in the workforce management tool, we have consistently met a grade of service of 80%, which means that 80% of the time, callers have their call answered within two minutes or less.
In closing, I would like to reiterate that our transformation efforts will continue to focus on ways to better serve our clients. Going forward, we will continue to find new and innovative ways to connect, collaborate, and communicate with our veterans. Our vision is that one day clients will have the convenience and flexibility of doing business through the channel of their choice.
On behalf of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Chair, we thank you for having us. We welcome the opportunity to support your work in this matter and welcome any questions you may have.
Thank you.