{"id":445,"date":"2020-09-04T08:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-04T12:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/?p=445"},"modified":"2026-07-23T09:57:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T13:57:05","slug":"scheduling-va-patient-appointments-now-easier-with-new-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/news-stories\/scheduling-va-patient-appointments-now-easier-with-new-software\/","title":{"rendered":"Scheduling VA Patient Appointments Now Easier With New Software"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"employees
From left, RimaAnn Nelson, Veterans Integrated Service Network 10 network director, Pamela Powers, VA acting deputy secretary, and John Windom, executive director of the Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization, arrive at the Chalmers P. Wylie VA Ambulatory Care Center in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 25 to tour the facility and receive an update on all Centralized Scheduling Solution (CSS) go-live activities. CSS is an all-in-one software system that provides Veterans with cutting-edge capabilities to book and manage their appointments.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)\u00a0launched a new appointment-management system<\/a>\u00a0Aug. 21 at the VA Central Ohio Healthcare System, giving Veterans and staff a new tool to request and book medical visits online.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Centralized Scheduling Solution (CSS)\u00a0is an all-in-one software system that helps Veterans by providing cutting-edge capabilities to book and manage their appointments. The new solution also adds an extra layer of patient safety by enabling staff to identify Veterans at risk for missing critical health care visits. The solution launch, or \u201cgo-live,\u201d\u00a0continues\u00a0through Sept. 2 and marks\u00a0the first time VA\u00a0schedulers and clinicians\u00a0are using the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur rollout of the Centralized Scheduling Solution has been a monumental success,\u201d said John H. Windom, who in his role of executive director oversees VA\u2019s Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization (OEHRM)<\/a>. \u201cThis modernized system is already making health care providers\u2019 jobs easier and will lead to better care for our Veterans.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With VA\u2019s previous system, schedulers would log in to multiple software applications to coordinate timing, equipment and personnel. CSS uses straightforward, color-coded time slots and what OEHRM Chief Medical Officer Dr. Laura Kroupa explained is a \u201cresource-based\u201d approach to scheduling<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt really brings together the provider, the patient, the nurse, the room \u2014 all the resources that are needed to take care of a Veteran \u2014 into one place, so that they can all be scheduled at one time,\u201d Kroupa said in an interview<\/a>. \u201cAnd that allows the medical centers to really take the best advantage of the time and space that they have \u2026 you can see the entire structure in one view, and bring all those resources together so the Veteran can get their care in a timely way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Vivian
Vivian Hutson,\u00a0\u00a0VA Central Ohio Healthcare System<\/a>director<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Vivian Hutson, director of the VA Central Ohio Healthcare System, said she was eager for her facilities to receive the new tool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt felt like I was at NASA waiting for a launch,\u201d said Hutson, about the CSS go-live event. \u201cThe amount of optimism was off the charts because we were fueled by one mission: how we can serve the Veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CSS launch marks a major milestone in VA\u2019s broader overall Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) effort. The department is transitioning from using its existing electronic health record (EHR) system, the software that stores patient information and tracks all aspects of care, to a new one that is interoperable with the Department of Defense and the U.S. Coast Guard. Initial\u00a0EHR rollout<\/a>\u00a0at VA sites will start in fall 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched a new appointment-management system Aug. 21 at the VA Central Ohio Healthcare System, giving Veterans and staff a new tool to request and book medical visits online. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":998,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-stories"],"meta_box":{"external_links":"0","endorsement":"0","subheading":"","byline":"","author_title":"","external_source":"","external_source_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3928,"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445\/revisions\/3928"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digital.va.gov\/ehr-modernization\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}