On Thursday, December 3, 2015, the North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs (NDDVA) successfully transferred a veteran’s claim for a service-connected disability to the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) through the VA’s Digits 2 Digits (D2D) program. This is the first time a claim has been transferred through the D2D program in North Dakota. The NDDVA is one of the first organizations in the nation to have the ability to transfer claims electronically through the program. The Digits 2 Digits program, along with the Stakeholders Enterprise Portal, enhances the NDDVA’s ability to better serve the veterans of North Dakota and assist them with processing claims to the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs. This method of submitting claims is faster and easier, allowing Service Officers to more efficiently and effectively assist veterans.
The VA’s D2D program allows a Veteran Service Officers (VSO) electronic claim management program to communicate with the Federal VA’s claim system. In this way the data typed into the VSO’s program for the veteran is transferred as actual data into the Federal VA system which saves the time and resources once needed to re-type this data. As an example; when a veteran visits the VSO in Stark County to file a claim with the Federal VA all information is typed into the stark counties claim management program and documents needing a signature are signed on an electronic signature pad. All necessary documents for the veterans claim can then be compiled or “Packaged” and released to the NDDVA. The claim package is immediately received by the NDDVA’s for review and final approval. The claim is then electronically uploaded directly to the Federal VA claim system. No paper documents are mailed or carried from the VSO to the Federal VA. This method saves several days in time copying documents, mailing documents, scanning documents and re-typing the data into each program and most importantly is kept in a secure data base.