evaluation system including how well it is working and what is being done to improve it. also thank you to our witnesses for joining us today. as we'll hear today, it's clear the integrated disability evaluation system for i.d.s. is still facing real and significant challenges. overall it's taking more than one year for service members to vmplgts a. and department of defense intended. some military bases it is still taking much longer than that. in fact, only 18% of active duty service members are transitioning to civilian life during this time, wounded, ill and injured service members are waiting to find out whether they can continue serving in the military or will have to build new lives as civilians. for those who are ready and able to move on with their lives, this must seem like an eternity. i think the number of service members in this process who are add min strattively discharged

or court-martialed or died from unnatural cause includes be suicide or overdoses raises serious questions about what the having on the personal lives of these wounded warrior, and whether they're truly being set up to leave after leaving the military. as the committee has been told by many service members going through this process, the uncertainty about where, when and where they might leave the military can actually prevent them from getting their civilian lives in order. such as buying a house, finding a school or taking a job. on top of that, it appears that this system is not as straightforward or user friend lip as it was intended. listening to what the wounded warrior project said about the warriors still encounter great difficulty in navigating a system they find to

be highly complicated. difficult to understand. unnepsly contentious and often ponderously slow. disjointed. liability here that i think is impact that the backlog may have on our military readiness. particularly in a time when some in washington are talking about drawing down our force strength. right now there are about 19,000 soldiers as in just the army, who are in this process. i'm under the impression these service member are still considered as being in the military sp military. so that comes out of the bottom line for army instrument and kpleemted the ied process. based on these and other issues we'll hear about today, it's clear we are still a long way from actually having created a seamless transition for many wounded, ill and injured

military personnel. so i hope the committee will have a good discussion about what can be done to simp plap fip this disability system, speed up the process for those who are ready to move on with their civilian lives. and with that i yield back. >> thank you very much, if senator. >> chairman, i would ask consent to put my statement in the record. thank you. >> thank you very much. at this time i want to -- oh, senator chester. did not see you come in. champion is surprising. welcome. >> that's because i beat you in, madam chair. i would just like to say thank you, doctor, for being here and mr. gingrich, and mr. ber tony. i would just say since i've been on this committee, 5.5 years we've been talking about this issue. obviously it's not an easy issue or it would be done already. by the same token, maybe we ought to get the committee on military affairs in here, but you're here, doctor rooney, but

to put pressure on the d.o.d. to make sure they're doing their as we put pressure other than the v.a. to make sure they're doing their job pap quick statistic. the secretary mentioned the goal for this disability pension claims is 125 day, 98% accuracy. right now aid cording to the report, that was put out it's. 394 days and 79% accurate. we've got an issue here, and the reason i know we have an issue here is because i got veterans calling me all the time. it's too complicated. they don't know how to get through it and quite frankly the folks that serve this country deserve bet per's we've got to 23ig figure how to get it right. i look forward to this if you do correct me, because the bottom line is, what this committee does is important, but what's even more important is the service wes give to our verts and the folks that need help and

earned that help need to get it and they need to get now. thank you, madam chair. >> okay. thank you very much. at this time i would like to introduce and welcome today's witnesses. representing the department of defense is the active under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness dr. joann rooney. dr. rooney, we had a chance to talk about several of these issues at the field hearing i held a few months ago and appreciate your willingness to testify before this committee again and, pleased you are continuing to focus on this issue. joining u.s. from the department of veterans afays, v.a.'s chief of staff, mr. john gingrich. from the government accountability office, mr. daniel bertony, director of educati education, work force and income security issues. i want to thank each of you for joining us this morning and look forward to hearing your testimony. your remarks will appear, of course, in the record. dr. rooney, we will begin wie you. with you. >> thank you.

good morning, chairman, ranking member and members of the committee. it is my pleasure to be here today to testify on current efforts focused on reviewing and improving the integrated disability evaluation system, or iides. i am pleased to appear with my partners. we are working closely together to provide an integrated seamless process for wounded, ill or injured service members as they transition to veteran status. taking care of our service members is the absolute highest priority of the department of defense. part of taking care of our service members includes ensuring they're honorable service is recognized and they are compensated in both d.o.d. and v.a. systems for injuries and illnesses incurred during that service. the department is undertaken many initiatives to accomplish this, but we acknowledge there is much more work to be done.

over the past five years, the departments of defense and veterans affairs have worked together with assistance and guidance from congress to reform the cumbersome amend often confusing bureaucratic processes which provide care to ill and wounded service members when and where they need them. working closely, deliberately and collaboratively, our departments xaebed governance apartment the highest levels to facilitate continues impro improvements. the join executive counce im, or jec, co-chaired by second gould and me devotes each part of the bimonthly meeting to reviewing the process and understanding the ongoing actions towards achieving our goal of seamless transition from service members to veterans. similarly, the quarterly meeting conducted jointly by the

secretary of defense and the secretary of veterans affairs whip senior leaders to drive and oversea progress towards the stated goals. one of these efforts is ides. ides delivers a more service member centric design a simpler process, more consistent evaluations and compensation. easier transition to veterans status, peace advocations and established relationship between the service member and v.a. prior to separation. it also provides increased transparency through better information flow to service members and their families as well as a reduced gap between separation or retirement from service and receipt of v.a. benefits. the streamlined evalue ace system with service members receiving a single set of examinations conducted according to v.a. examine ace protocols.

proposed disability ratings prepared by v.a. that both departments can use, and dual processing to ensure the earliest possible delivery of disability benefits. currently the ides is used at 139 locations across all services. since november of 2007, 19,518 service members have completed the ides process. the i.d. accept s ides reduced e of 244 days to 50 days currently. champion means disabled veterans receive their v.a. benefits 79% faster under the current i.d. i than before. it's brought to the disability evaluation process swreshgs much work remaining. both departments are committed

to constant evaluation of each step throughout the process, and will continue to seek long-term innovative solutions focused on improving the experience of our wounded warriors. we must do that. we also must carefully review the critical steps in ides to reach the 2995-day kplecompleti goal for at least 60% entering the process by the end of this calendar year. the military services are each in the process of implementing actions to improve efficiency and effectiveness. since october of 2011, this fall, the army has added 513 medical evaluation board and fit evaluation board personnel and enhanced account act by establishing performance metrics to measure the productivity of board staff. the army has also completed a senior leader assessment of the

execution of the ides at installations across the army. this assessment identified specific actions required to enhance and standardize performance across the army. the navy and marine corpses have added ten doctors and 37 case managers to their medical evaluation staff last year and anticipate the addition of 23 more doctors next year. physical evaluation board staffs increased in both navy and marine corps by 47% allowing them to process 75% naeft avy a% of the marine corps in this particular phase in less than the 120-day phase goal. the air force is also leaned forward and started to utilize air force national guard personnel ta-to-support the process and an eligibility screening process, again to increase efficiency.

also removing policy impediments, implemented procedural improvements and enhanced oversight and and april surface to the services. reducing minimal and physical i valuation staffing boards from three members to two members. authorizing doctoral level psychologists to sign medical evaluation boards. prior they not abe to. allowing military departments to process initial trainees through the legacy des system. additionally, d.o.d. is working with v.a. partners to approve execution by improving training and case management software, implementing a common paperless standard for electronic transfer of files by this summer. and develop dg other integrated lem tronk record file-sharing methods which will enhance this at the ides.

improvements when implemented this summer of 201278 will reduce ide accept time from 208 t -- 20 positito 30 days. this is thorough, fair and accurate. we are continually reviewing the process and requirements to adequately staff and when necessary surge the ides so it remains responsive to the needs of recovering service members in the services as they draw down and reset forces. yet we understand there is room for improvement in all parts of our processes, and are committed to working towards that end. after two decades of war with an all-volunteer force that has seen marked improvements of survival of previously unsurvivable injure the expectations of what happens after a service member becomes ill or injured are fundamentally different.

the except now focus pd on taking advantage of all the advances in medical care, restorative therapies and rehabilitation to allow a service member to achieve his or her greatest potential. this includes retention in military service. whenever possible. this concept of being made whole reflects a commitment to the service members to restore the highest level of function possible, physically, mentally, spiritually and financially, and providing all the benefits that are justified. the target of 295 days to complete the ides process was originally identified to address concerns and frustrations of service members who did not believe then were properly cared for and felt they were languishing in insensitive systems. since these issues surfaced, many resources have been brought to bear to improve the coordination and care and the adjudication of benefits. the complexity of injuries,

sophisticated treatment strategy, coordination of care and change of the philosophical approach to the goals of patient centric versus military department centric has redefined the timelines for completion of this system. in fact, it has become more of a system centered on improving and defining ability rather than singularly focused on transition of a service member to veteran status and often individualized in the application to achieve this goal. the department reaffirms its commitment to care for and honor those who protected our nation by serving in yurauniversal. to ensure our promise we must fully leverage capabilities and strengths of both the department of defense and veterans affairs. we must break down the barriers that prevent us from dlivlerring the highest quality care to

those who need it and deserve it. thank you again for the opportunity to be with you today. madam chairman, and i look forward to the committee's questions. >> mr. gingrich? >> good morning, chairman. [ inaudible ] -- can be joined this morning by under secreta secretary -- okay. undersecretary joann rooney and to discuss the ides system. we've come a long way since the issues of walter reed, army medical center, were identified in 2007. at that time, v.a. and the d.o.d. were mimes apart. simply stated, the lack of integration and cooperation between the departments did not serve wounded service members well. since that time, together we have committed to achieve a seamless transition through a multi-prong aid proech with ides as one of the critical initiatives. the joint ides process was

designed to eliminate time consuming and often confusing elements of the separate disability processes. the goals of the joint process, increase transparency, reduce processing time, improve consistent sip and reduce the benefits gap. to achieve greater transparency for service members we enhanced our online tools. the my healthy vet and e benefits to allow service members at ides to view appointments and lab results and to track their claim. internally we've increased transparency to the ides track board that tracks performance at each ides site. the secretaries have charged us to reach a combined performance going of 295 days for 60% of the service members by the end of this year. tone sure that we reach this goal, i hold biweekly reviews

with 16 stations. in a short period of time we've seen positive results. in january the oldest case worked for disability rating was 254 days. today there are no cases over 180 days. from february 2011 to april 2 2 2012, we've reduced the average claim development time by 62%, and the medical examine apgs and add min time by 60%. on april 5th i committed to the army vice chief of staff that v.a. would clear within 60 days the entire inventory of army cases awaiting proposed rating decisions. well on our way only for the army but for all for both preliminary and final rating, the combined productivity of our three disability rating activity

sites, dras, increased 15% in the last month. several projects to enhance efficiency and effectiveness submitting electronic and the electronic case file transfer system. we made progress in improving transparency, improves consistency and reducing process time, but our biggest achievement to date has been closing the benefit gap. service members no longer wait six to nine months to receive compensation they've earned. yet with all these achievements, we're not satisfied. because we are not meeting the requirement for every single service member. we will continue to work with d.o.d. to improve our systems and processes until we achieve all of our objectives in 100 days for each service member. i will often refer to cases or claims here today.

but let me assure you, i never lose sight of the fact that behind a claim is a service member and his or her family, who we will continue to partner with d.o.d. to effectively and efficiently get him or her back to their unit to continue military service or, if discharged, provide the benefits they have earned. as partners, we will overcome the remaining challenges together to achieve the seamless transition service members deserve. this is a commitment we must meet. i look forward to answering any questions that you may have. >> thank you very much. mr. bertoni. >> chairman murray, ranking members burr, members of the committee, good morning. i'm pleased to discuss the department of defense to improve the performance of the integrated disability evaluation

system or ides. since its start, we've montoward the evolution of this process and made several recommendations to address design and other challenges. my statement today is based on the ongoingwork for this committee and focuses on the extent to which ides is meeting key performance goals and ongoing efforts to improve performance. in summary, we found that overall time have worsened with the average number of days to complete claims for the average service duty members increasing from 230 days in 2008 to 394 days last year which is well above the stated goal of 295 days. during the same period the proportion of active duty cases that met timeliness goals also decreased very steeply from 16% to just 19%. with the exception of the evaluation board claims ides fell consistently short of interim timeliness goals for the medical evaluation board, transition and benefits phases. processing delays were most significant in completing the medical evaluation board proses,

and in 2007 only 2% of targeted cases met the standard. telephone surveys have both shortcomings in design and administration, such as unduly limiting who actually receives the survey and completing average states that are satisfactory. in fact, using an alternative calculation that eliminates neutral responses, we found satisfaction rates several times lower than d.o.d. reports. d.o.d. and v.a. have undertaken a number of initiatives to help with ides challenges.

we hold its own biweekly conferences with local staff responsible for their portion of the proses. the departments are also working to address longstanding medical board and v.a. rating staff challenges. in fact, the army is in the midst of a hiring effort to more than double medical board staff, including liaisons, physicians and support personnel. while v.a. has more than tripled staffing at ides rating sites. the departments are also working to address limitations in the department systems including steps to improve facilities to electronically track and monitor case progress and to improve the quality of case data which we found to be problematic. however, key upgrades are still pending and various sites continue to rely on ad hoc, local and potentially redundant processes to manage their cases. the current ides tracking system

lacks controls to prevent staff friendering erroneous data, thus keeping case load data accurate will remain a challenge going forward. finally, in order to further improve and expedite processing we've initiated an in-depth process review to better understand how steps and processing times and further streamline opportunities. such an effort could yield short and long-term recommendations for improvement. however, a timetable is yet to be determined. nearly five years out, delays continue to affect progress, and their causes are not fully understood. recent initiatives to improve processing and isolate issues are promising and however it remains to be seen what the long-term impacts will be and we'll continue to assess d.o.d.'s progress in this area. chairman, murray this concludes my statement, and i'm happy to

answer any questions that you might have. thank you. >> thank you very much. following the revelation that possibly hundreds of soldiers at joint base louis mccord had their ptsd diagnosis changed because a group of people didn't want to spend money and benefits on the care these service members would receive i asked our staff to conduct an investigation into the joint disability evaluation system. we're at an interim point in this investigation. up to today staff have reviewed 121 cases from 23 different ides sites. they have focused on cases involving mental health diagnosis in job and ptsd diagnoses in general. they have encountered inadequate

v.a. medical examinations, especially in relation to traumatic brain injury and v.a. rating decisions or issued as part of this joint process contained errors which in some cases impacted the level of benefits the veteran should have received. so before we begin today's questions, i am entering the results of this interim investigation into the record at this point, and there will be more to come. dr. rooney, let me start with you. we have had discussions in the past regarding the joint disability evaluation system and the number of challenges service members face while they are going through this process. recently, it has come to my attention that some of our service members involved with the disability evaluation process are facing retribution and unsupportive behavior from their chains of command while on limited duty and awaiting a disability decision. i've heard from service members who are forced to participate in activities in direct violation

of doctor's orders who have been disciplined while struggling with behavioral health conditions and who have struggled to get access to care because their leadership would not cooperate with their treatment requirements. i think you agree with me that that is completely unacceptable, whether in a transition unit or not. leaders have to understand these medical issues and the difficult process that these service members are going through, and they have to provide the leadership and support that these men and women need. so, i want to begin with you by asking you, dr. rooney what, needs to be done to provide supportive and compassionate leadership for these injured service members that are forced to wait for a disability decision. >> clearly, the information you just shared is troubling on many levels. i would be very interested in speaking with you or your staff so that we can actually determine where those issues are occurring and make sure that, in fact, the leadership does know,

which is the department's position and the leadership at many levels that i'm familiar with, that that cannot be tolerate, that we must understand what is necessary for the care, that there are no significant mass associated with being able to address behavioral health or mental health issues, and that really is the department's position. so in those cases, if there are those substantive issues that you mentioned, not only do we need to find out where those are so we can work directly with that leadership and correct that situation, but we will continue with our ongoing work at all levels of commands, not just at the senior level in the department, but we understand that needs to go right through the command level of every installation to ensure that in fact the situation you describe are not occurring. >> well, we need to make sure that's happening because as we all know these are very challenging situations for these soldiers and any kind of retribution shouldn't be tolerated, whether it's one case or many, with you i will share those with you, but i want to make sure systemwide that leaders throughout the chain of

command, all the way to the bottom are clearly understanding what these soldiers are going through and are not having any kind of repercussions on those individuals. >> absolutely. >> mr. gingrich, from the perspect i ever of someone who has served in many leadership positions within the military, what can we do to make sure to education our military leaders not only on this process but really on the medical issues facing so much of these young men and women? >> madam chairman, i see a lot of things the army is doing, and i know that because i've been to their vtcs. they have started as we were -- we were told by gao, they are now bringing in layers all the way up to the vice chief of staff, so they have involved colonel level discussions, brigadier general, major general, all the way up, and they included v.a. in every one of those discussion groups, so i think getting the information out is the biggest key that we've got to go and the biggest challenge that we have. the secretary right now, yesterday, spoke to the sergeant major ac