Evaluation system improves disability support Published June 29, 2011 By Air Force Medical Operations Agency and 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Starting Friday, Keesler service members referred for medical evaluation boards will go through a new Disability Evaluation System that integrates the processes of the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. The Integrated Disability Evaluation System provides a more seamless transition to veteran disability benefits with fewer hurdles, faster results and more consistent ratings between DOD and Va than the previous system. Under the previous system, service members completed the military disability evaluation system in an average of 10 months. This included a set of medical examinations by military physicians, a series of boards to determine if the member was still able to serve, and if not, assignment of a disability rating used by DOD to calculate disability compensation. Service members couldn't begin to apply for disability compensation and benefits from the VA until after receiving a discharge date from their service. It was then up to the veteran to complete an application to the VA and provide all required documentation. If any documents were missing, it was the veteran's responsibility to locate them. Then, the veteran had to complete another set of medical exams in accordance with standards set by the VA and wait for a VA panel to provide another disability rating, this one used to calculate veterans disability compensation and benefits. This second process took about eight more months during which benefits were gapped. Under the new IDES, there's only one set of medical exams, performed to VA standards, which provide all information needed by both departments. A VA panel issues disability ratings that meet the needs of both departments. The integrated process still takes just over eight months, but now when the service member is finished with the military process, a disability claim is already filed with the VA so veteran disability compensation and benefits can arrive after one month in veteran status, the earliest allowed under current law. In designing the IDES, the two departments examined the recommendations of several commissions and task forces established to improve the delivery of benefits to wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans. The resulting integrated system was first introduced as a pilot program at three military treatment facilities in November 2007. It was further tested and improved as the pilot expanded to 24 additional locations over two years, bringing the integrated system to 47 percent of service members referred for disability evaluation. In thousands of surveys, service members and their families in the pilot program consistently reported higher average satisfaction with fairness, customer service and the overall IDES experience than did participants in the legacy system. Based on the proven performance of the pilot, the departments plan to extend these advantages to all remaining service members by the end of September. Lt. Col. Christopher Morgan, 81st Medical Support Squadron Tricare operations and patient administration flight commander, is leading the IDES adaptation for the Keesler Hospital. "I'm very excited about this change, which is the biggest modification the DES has experienced since its inception in 1948," Colonel Morgan said. "These changes will affect all service members who will go through a DES rating. We've been working with our local Army, Navy and National Guard medical representatives and will soon process their DES cases here in our hospital. "We're tasked to achieve initial operating capability by June 30 and will begin processing new IDES cases at Keesler," the colonel continued. "We are also required to reach our full operational capability by Oct. 1. We've had many meetings with our veteran's benefits administration and veteran's healthcare administration teammates and we're confident that we'll improve the time required to process IDES cases." For more on the MEB and PEB process, log on to https://gumcrm.csd.disa.mil and do a keyword search for MEB. For more information about the Air Force Wounded Warrior program, go to http://www.woundedwarrior.af.mil.