Intake Quick Reference Guide
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INTAKE FOR COMPENSATION & PENSION 1 Table of Content " INTAKE OVERVIEW 3 " ADDING ISSUES 39 " INTAKE ACCESS 5 " CONFIRMATIONS 36 " SELECT FORM 9 " UNIDENTIFIED ISSUES 42 " SEARCH 12 " INELIGIBLE ISSUES 46 " REVIEW 15 " EDITING ISSUES FROM VBMS 59 " ADD ISSUES 20 " SEARCH FOR ISSUES 63 " REVIEW CONSIDRATIONS 33 " SEND US FEEDBACK 67 " SUBMIT END PRODUCT (EP) 35 2 Intake Caseflow Caseflow Intake (Intake) is a web-based application designed to support the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA). It will process AMA appeals for Veterans who have chosen the new Supplemental Claim (SC) or Higher-Level Review (HLR) options as well as those who have chosen to appeal directly to the Board through a Notice of Disagreement (NOD). Intake will serve as the single data input system for this process, providing a source of truth for AMA statutory metrics. Across the board, Intake performs numerous issue-level validations, matching, and error checking, to capture the best possible data and reduce processing overhead. Intake Overview 3 Forms compatible with Caseflow Intake: ● VA Form 20-0996 Request for Higher Level Review ● VA Form 20-0995 Supplemental Claim Application ● VA Form 10182 Notice of Disagreement ● VA Form 21-4183 Statement In Support of Claim (RAMP) ● RAMP Opt-In Election Form Intake Overview 4 INTAKE ACCESS Browser preference Latest version of Google Chrome and Internet Explorer are recommended for Caseflow Intake Intake Access 6 Requesting Access to Caseflow Intake If you or your team needs access to Caseflow Intake, please contact Martina Jones: martina.jones@va.gov Intake Access 7 Access to Caseflow Intake • Connect to the VA network • Open your web browser • Enter the URL https://appeals.cf.ds.va.gov/intake • Sign in using your VA credentials • You will then be taken to the Caseflow Intake Welcome page Intake Access 8 INTAKING A FORM Select Form Step 1: Select Form After you receive the AMA form or Notice of Disagreement, the first step in the intake process is to Select Form. Select the desired form from the “Which form are you processing?” dropdown menu. Select Form 10 Step 1: Select Form Select Form 11 INTAKING A FORM Search Step 2: Search Search • Type in the Veteran ID or SSN of the Veteran. • Even if the claimant in someone other than the Veteran, please search for the Veteran whose benefits are under appeal. 13 Veteran ID Errors There are several errors which you may encounter while searching. Examples: • Invalid file number: Veteran ID not found. Please enter a valid Veteran ID and try again. • Veteran not accessible: You don't have permission to view this Veteran's information. It looks like you do not have the necessary level of access to view this information. Please alert your manager for further action. • Veteran not valid: The Veteran's profile has missing or invalid information required to perform intake. • Duplicate intake in progress: Already started processing this form. Another user has begun intake on this file. Please confirm they will complete this intake, then move on to the next mail item. • Something went wrong. Please try again. This is a system error. If the problem persists, please contact Caseflow support. Search 14 INTAKING A FORM Review Step 3: Review Review 16 Step 3: Review – Headings Explained • Benefit type (Comp, Pension or Non-Pension non-comp - 8 options total). The intake process for compensation, pension and non-pension non-compensation lines of business is very similar. • Receipt Date - The new AMA lanes have specific timelines for appeals’ adjudications. The date of the intake is important and should be as accurate as possible. We use the receipt date as the date the review was received. • Claimant - The claimant can be the veteran or not, we use the Veteran ID to identify all cases associated with the veteran. Social security number of the veteran is another way to identify the case. • Claimant not in Database - If the clamant is not the veteran and we don’t have the claimant in our database, you can do the following: o If you have access to VBMS - you can add the claimant’s information to VBMS and refresh this page to select claimant’s name. o Ask someone on your team with access to VBMS to add the claimant Review 17 Step 3: Input primary form information • What is the Benefit Type? Choose the benefit type against which the appeal is being made. • What is the Receipt Date of this form? Enter the date the form is received. This date is critical for the collection of statutory metrics and should be as accurate as possible. • Is the claimant someone other than the Veteran? If the Claimant is someone other than the Veteran, select Yes. If the person who is claiming the benefit does not appear in the list, that person must be added to the Corporate Database. Please follow the instructions on the screen to contact the appropriate stakeholder. Review 18 Did Claimant Agree to Withdraw from Legacy System? Important Note: If the claimant did not check this box, then any legacy issues in their appeal will be ineligible. Review 19 INTAKING A FORM Add Issues Step 4: Add Issues Add Issues 21 Step 4: Issues ▪ Issues are the atomic unit of the Appeals Modernization Act. Many statutory metrics will be tracked at the Issue level. ▪ As such, it is critically important to record each issue exactly as the Veteran describes it in the form. Add Issues 22 Step 4: Review intake and add issues • Confirm that the primary review information (Name, Receipt Date, File Number, etc.) • is correct. • Begin adding issues from the form, exactly as the Veteran has described them. • If you make a mistake adding an issue, click the Remove icon to delete the issue. • Add all issues before finishing intake. Even if issues are unmatched, ineligible, or otherwise difficult to understand, please intake them exactly as the Veteran has described them. Add Issues 23 First, click Add Issue Add Issues 24 Next, select the known issue that the Veteran is describing Emphysema effective date should be 10/10/2009 Add Issues 12/19/2018 25 Next, select the known issue that the Veteran is describing ● ● ● ● Add Issues When adding issues in Caseflow, we first show all rating issues the veteran has. You can see previous decisions and their dates, select a previous issue if it is the same issue claimant has indicted in their form. You can only add one issue at a time. If you don’t see the issue then select “None of these match, see more options.” 26 Next, select the issue category from the dropdown Add Issues 27 Next, enter the decision date and issue description Education effective date should be 10/12/2011 Add Issues 10/11/2018 28 Issues that cannot be categorized If the issue identified by the Veteran cannot be categorized, is difficult to understand, or has other problems, click “None of these match, see more options” Add Issues 29 Transcribe the issue as best as possible. This is something that needs to be looked at Add Issues 30 Transcribe the issue as best as possible. If you can’t intake issues based on the category options, write down what veteran wrote and add any notes you see pertinent. Add Issues 31 Step 4: Review and submit the appeal Add Issues 32 Review the Appeal – Things to Consider ✓ Before submitting the intake, make sure the number of issues are the same in the intake as the number of issues written on the form ✓ Check that the dates are correct ✓ Check that each issue reflects the text stated by the claimant ✓ Make sure that you include any notes that might help the next person work the appeal ✓ It is possible that an issue will be highlighted as ineligible. This is expected for some issues. It is important to record all the issues indicated by the Veteran, regardless of their eligibility. Add Issues 33 Submit the appeal Add Issues 34 INTAKING A FORM Confirmation Confirmation 36 Confirmations Every time an intake is completed, you will see a confirmation page. From this page, you can start a new intake, as well as review the information of the previous intake. Confirmation 37 ADDING ISSUES Sometimes adding an issue to your intake might take a bit more work – here are some special cases we have identified. 39 Important Note This information applies to decisions made after February 18, 2019. Decisions made before that must be appealed under the legacy appeals process. 40 ADDING ISSUES Unidentified Issues Unidentified issues Issues where we don’t (currently) know what decision the appellant is contesting. Example: Sometimes the Veteran will write something that requires a little more expertise to interpret. Unidentified issues 42 Example: Everything in my previous appeal 10/11/2018 Everything in my previous appeal Unidentified issues 43 These unidentified issues can be resolved downstream, by editing the request issues on the decision review. Unidentified issues 44 • Unidentified issues should be resolved before making a decision on them. • Unidentified issues that are never resolved will be considered to have been ineligible. Unidentified issues 45 ADDING ISSUES Ineligible Issues • Users may encounter issues that are ineligible. • Ineligible issues are identified on the Add/ Review Issue page and Confirmation page. • Follow SOP to notify the Veteran/ Claimant of ineligible issues. Ineligible issues 47 As the Veteran/ Claimant navigates the appeal process, some lanes selections have different policy requirements for future decision appeals. An appeal is ineligible: • If the request is an HLR and same issue was last processed as an HLR • If the request is a Board Appeal and the same issue was last processed as a Board Appeal • If the request is a HLR and same issue was last processed as a Board Appeal Ineligible issues 48 For all identified issues, we have some automated eligibility checks. Ineligible issues 49 An issue gets selected Ineligible issues Review page shows ineligibility 50 An issue is ineligible ...if the request is an HLR and same issue was last processed as an HLR OR ...if the request is a Board Appeal and the same issue was last processed as a Board Appeal. Displayed Copy: [Issue selected] is ineligible because it was last processed as a [HLR/Appeal] and this can't be done twice in a row. Ineligible issues 51 ...if the request is a SC/ HLR/ Board Appeal and the same issue is being processed in another lane Displayed Copy: [Issue selected] is ineligible because it's already under review as a [SC/HLR/Appeal]. Ineligible issues 52 ...if the request is a Higher-Level Review and same issue was last processed as a Board Appeal Displayed Copy: [Issue selected] is ineligible because it was last processed as a Board Appeal which can't be followed by a Higher-Level Review. Ineligible issues 53 ...if Timeliness not exempted If the issue has a decision date older than 1 year and the Veteran/ Claimant didn’t request an “exemption to the date requirements.” Displayed Copy: [Issue selected] is ineligible because it has a prior decision date that's older than 1 year. Ineligible issues 54 Past decision Ineligible issues Request exemption 55 If the requested issue has a decision date older than 1 year but applicant included a request to override. Ineligible issues 56 If the requested issue has a decision date older than 1 year and applicant didn't include a request to override. Ineligible issues 57 Ineligible issues will be saved to the Caseflow database, and appear on the Add/Review issues page. They will not be developed or decided on. Do not delete ineligible issues; they are critical for developing statutory metrics. Ineligible issues 58 Submitting the Appeal Creates an End Product (EP). • Finishing the intake triggers the creation of one or more EPs, depending on the structure of the intake. • Sometimes there are system errors when creating EPs. If this happens, support will automatically be notified and handle the exception. No further action is required on your part. • Once an EP has been created: Please do not make any edits to this EP in SHARE! Editing EPs in SHARE will disconnect them from Caseflow and remove their EDITING ISSUES statutory metrics reporting. From VBMS Add Issues 59 Issues must be edited in Caseflow To edit an issue: 1. 2. 3. Search for the file number with the EP you want to edit in VBMS Click the EP with the issue you want to edit Click the Edit in Caseflow button This will take you to the Add/ Remove Issues page for that EP in Caseflow. Issues VBMS 60 1. Search for the file number 2. Click the EP to be edited 3. Click Edit in Caseflow Issues VBMS 61 4. Edit the EP. Note: In order to edit specific parts of any given issue/ contention, you may need to remove that issue and re-add it. See the Adding Issues section for instructions on adding issues. 5. Click the Save button. Issues VBMS 62 SEARCH FOR ISSUES If an intake is completed and you need to review the appeal information, you can access the case via Search Search for Issues 64 This page can show EPs as they are being created. You can see if there was an error with the creation of the EP, and check the status of an intake. Search for Issues 65 From the search results page, you can access the Case Detail page for Board appeals. Search for Issues 66 EDITING ISSUES Editing issues in Caseflow Once an appeal or a review is in our system, Caseflow users can make edits to issues if they find out there was a mistake during the intake or have received clarification about the review request of the veteran or claimant. Editing issues 68 If you are coming in from a review in Casflow, you can use the “Correct issues” button to edit the review 69 Add / Withdraw / Remove When returning to intake to edit issues, user will see all issues that are part of this review. Abraham Lincoln Caseflow > Intake Edit Issues Add more issues if necessary Form Supplemental Claim (VAForm 21-526b) Veteran Ulysses Grant (ID #888451290) Form receipt date 09/01/2018 Benefit type Compensation Claimant Julia Grant (payee code ###) Requested issues 1. Basic eligibility to Dependents’ Educational Assistance is established from October 1, 2017. Decision date 04/04/2018. Remove and withdraw issues Select action Withdraw issue 2. Incarceration Adjustments. Decision date 06/12/2017. Select action Remove issue 3. Service connection for pain disorder is granted with an evaluation of 70% effective May 1 2011 Notes: Pain disorder with 100% evaluation per examination Select action + Add issue Cancel Editing issues Save 70 Editing issues in Caseflow In order to edit an issue, you need to remove the issues from Caseflow and the re-add it with the corrected selection or information. Remove existing issue Add updated issue Make all necessary changes to this review before you save. Editing issues 71 Editing issues in Caseflow Caseflow will give you a waning message before you remove issues, this is to make sure you are aware you are making changes to the review. Do not remove issues unless there was a mistake with the intake. Editing issues 72 Withdraw issues There are circumstances when veterans or claimants will request to withdrawn an issues. There are many reasons a veteran may want to do this, we ask them to send this request in writing. Withdraw issue Editing issues 73 Withdraw issues You will see a list of all withdrawn issues before you save the changes. Add the date the issue withdrawal was requested. This date cannot be after today’s date or before the review’s date, otherwise you will get an error and ask to re-enter. Editing issues 74 Confirmation Once you are done with changes you will see a confirmation on the page you came from in Caseflow. Editing issues 75 //Withdrawing review is still in development 76 WITHDRAWING REVIEWS Withdraw reviews Abraham Lincoln Caseflow > Intake There are circumstances where the Veteran or claimant may ask to withdraw their review. Edit Issues Form Supplemental Claim (VAForm 21-526b) Select action Veteran Ulysses Grant (ID #888451290) Withdraw review Form receipt date 09/01/2018 Benefit type Compensation Claimant Julia Grant (payee code ###) Requested issues 1. Basic eligibility to Dependents’ Educational Assistance is established from October 1, 2017. Decision date 04/04/2018. Select action 2. Incarceration Adjustments. Decision date 06/12/2017. Select action 3. Service connection for pain disorder is granted with an evaluation of 70% effective May 1 2011 Notes: Pain disorder with 100% evaluation per examination Select action Remove review + Add issue Cancel Withdrawing reviews Save 78 Withdraw reviews If you withdraw a review, you are withdrawing every issue in that review. You will see this preview to make sure your changes are correct before withdrawing the review. Add date the review withdrawal was requested. This date cannot be after today’s date or before the review’s date, otherwise you will get an error and ask to reenter. Withdrawing reviews 79 Review status If you are using Caseflow to process your review – you can see the status of the review to “Withdrawn”. Withdrawing reviews 80 SEND US FEEDBACK Send us feedback If you run into a problem or have comments or requests, please let us know! 82 THANK YOU 83
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