Background The need for Medical Disability Exam (MDE) services has soared in the wake of the PACT Act which expands healthcare and benefits for Veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service. Veteran’s Evaluation Services or VES is a nationwide program operated by Maximus on behalf of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VES’s support of the VA requires broad clinical capabilities and facilities to meet the demand for Veteran MDEs. Services include care coordination and support to complete complex clinical, physical, and/or behavioral assessments with a focus on the beneficiary’s journey to ensure seamless and efficient experiences with minimal interruptions, bottlenecks, or delays. Maximus’s robust quality management and improvement strategies focus on increasing access: minimizing travel distances and barriers to exam completion, reducing number of visits required, and optimizing workflows by incorporating technology and innovation such as AI-enabled outreach, expanded telehealth capabilities, and fully equipped mobile units. Real-world data gathered through these services is used to assess service-related metrics, improve access, equity, and ensure accurate, actionable reporting. Based on real world program data, VES program improvements and associated service metrics highlight how large-scale military health policies are implemented through robust program to meet the needs of individuals who have served our Nation. Key Outcomes Programmatic and Operational • Our provider panel includes 7,000-members, at over 3,100 locations in the United States and over 800 international locations, representing all American Board of Medicine (ABMS) specialties and subspecialties ensuring there are no delays in scheduling and completing exams. • Establishment of a Service Member/Veteran Liaison Team and friendly exam facilities led to increased Service Member and Veteran trust. • Prioritization of Service Member and Veterans’ needs through our enhanced scheduling team, including full-service scheduling coordination; personalized, veteran-centered, tailored to beneficiary exam types and required diagnostics with efficient matching to specialists. • Expanding access to services through newly deployed mobile units, onsite events, and outreach with Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs). Technology and process improvements • Custom OMS system supports schedulers by managing veteran communications, exam volume, and meeting VA billing requirements. • Telehealth capabilities increase access to appropriate exam services timely and efficiently leading to greater convenience, access, care coordination and enhanced equity for remote and rural residents. • The human centered design process systematically improves understanding of the users and their pain-points, increases contextual awareness, and offers opportunities to achieve a holistic and seamless experience for Service Members, Veterans, and providers - this includes connecting Veterans as appropriate with a Veteran Liaison who is a Veteran themselves and can address unique questions or concerns. • A contact center that successfully manages hundreds of thousands of interactions monthly, providing the highest-level customer experience to deliver proactive communication to Service Members and Veterans about their exam appointments, addressing questions about the process, providing resources for exam preparation and robust customer service hours of operation to be available when needed. Conclusion Continually optimizing and streamlining the Service Member and Veteran experience is the foundation for the successful performance of our MDE contracts. We implement technologies to improve process workflows, compliance with program requirements, and ensure the exam processes are seamless and efficient by mitigating individual and global barriers that may impact scheduling, transportation, and keeping examinations appointments. From 2022 – 2023, VES saw a large increase in services while meeting or exceeding quality and customer service requirements. In our most recent review, VA rated our program management "exceptional. A nationwide network of clinical exam services infrastructure paired with robust quality and operational innovation enables expansion of services to meet the surging demands for medical disability exams and provides examples of program capabilities and enhancements that can be used for other clinical exam programs such as assessment for fitness for duty and occupational health programs.