VA is rolling out a new, faster way to schedule Veteran community care appointments. External Provider Scheduling (EPS) allows VA staff to book appointments directly into community providers’ scheduling systems without relying on multiple calls to confirm preferences and availability.  

Resources and Support  

Are you a health care provider who accepts Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (CHAMPVA) claims? Enroll in direct deposit (electronic funds transfer (EFT)) to receive your claim payments. Getting paid by EFT is a federal requirement. 

EFT payments are secure and efficient while safeguarding Veterans’ family members access to benefits. Enrolling in EFT also ensures you get paid.   

If you haven’t already:  

1. Visit the VA Financial Services Center Customer Engagement Portal.
2. Complete the Payment Account Setup web form to enroll.  

Your payments will be automatically deposited into a bank account.  

If you are not enrolled in EFT, your claims payments will be paused until your EFT enrollment is complete. Make the move today.   

For assistance with the webform, call 877-353-9791.  

About CHAMPVA 

CHAMPVA is a health care program for qualified spouses, widows(ers), and children of eligible Veterans. Through CHAMPVA, VA shares the cost of certain health care services and supplies with eligible beneficiaries.  

More Information: 

• CHAMPVA homepage 

• CHAMPVA – Information for Providers webpage 

• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs webpage 

Approximately 15% of men and 5% of women in America have obstructive sleep apnea, and between 10% and 15% of adults have chronic insomnia. We encourage you to share VA’s virtual care resources with your Veteran patients to help improve their sleep quality. Options include:

Tips for Starting a Conversation About
Mental Health 

Doris Allen, Army Veteran - Doris Allen was born in El Paso, Texas, in May 1927. After graduating with a degree in physical education from Tuskegee University and briefly working as a teacher, she enlisted in the U.S. Army’s Women’s Army Corps (WAC) in 1950. After basic training in Virginia, Allen was assigned to Japan as an entertainment specialist from 1951 to 1953, where she organized soldier shows and worked as an editor of the military newspaper for the Army Occupation Forces supporting the Korean War. 

 After the war, she was assigned to Camp Stoneman, California, where her sister was her commanding officer. She returned to Japan from 1956 to 1958, and then again returned to the United States, serving as a public information specialist in New Jersey. 

In 1963, Allen completed French language training and became the first woman to attend the Prisoner of War Interrogation course at the U.S. Army Intelligence School. She deployed to Vietnam in 1967 as an interrogator and eventually moved into the role of an intelligence analyst. Allen delivered and analyzed valuable intelligence for U.S. forces in Vietnam and saved at least 101 U.S. Marines fighting in Quang Tri Province. Allen became a counter-intelligence warrant officer after her service in Vietnam. At the time, she was one of just nine female warrant officers in military intelligence and served in this role until she retired in 1980.  

After her service, Allen earned a Ph.D. in Psychology and Organizational Development and wrote a book, “Three Days Past Yesterday: A Black Woman’s Journey Through Incredibility.”  

Allen received three Bronze Star Medals, a Vietnam Campaign Medal, a Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry and two National Defense Service Medals, among others. In 2009, she was inducted into the Military Intelligence Corps Hall of Fame, becoming one of only two Black women to receive that honor. Read more about Doris’s story here.

Howard Brown, Army Veteran – Howard Brown was born in Paxville, South Carolina, in 1946 and joined the Army right after high school. He served in the Vietnam War from 1964 to 1969 and the Gulf War from 1989 to 1992. 

Brown served three years in the Army as an infantry soldier and 23 years in Army Military Intelligence, specializing in morse code. He ultimately obtained his lifelong dream of gaining the rank of sergeant major.  

Brown officially retired from the Army in 1992 and now teaches Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students at Lake Marion High School in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Read more about Howard’s story here.  

We honor their service. 

More than 400,000 Veterans enrolled in VA health care over the past year – 30% more than the previous year. This is the biggest yearly increase in five years, and nearly a 50% increase over pandemic-level enrollment in 2020.  

The number of new enrollees increased in all 50 states year-over-year. States with the most new enrollees over the past year include Texas (41,287), California (33,468) Florida (32,712), Virginia (20,537), North Carolina (17,562), Pennsylvania (16,167), Georgia (15,747), Ohio (12,717), Washington (11,873), Illinois (10,167), Colorado (10,028), Arizona (9,789), Tennessee (9,584), and Michigan (9,294). More information on this announcement is available here.