Analytic Map - Pension Servicing

Question #	Question	Source	Uses	Justification
Factor 1	Benefit Information		Allows us to determine if Veteran experience differs based on informational needs and usage patterns during the ongoing servicing of a benefit	Satisfaction with the servicing experience may be higher or lower dependent upon Veterans' informational needs and usage patterns after their benefit has been awarded. The informational needs and usage patterns will be determined in this section. These questions will help us differentiate Veteran satisfaction based on benefit informational needs and usage, identify areas where improvements to the process can occur and prioritize them based on the impact of the Benefit Information factor to overall Veteran satisfaction.
1	How did you FIRST learn about VA benefit programs? (Mark only one) If you are unsure, please indicate the first way you remember learning about VA benefit programs.	Outreach Requirement	Identify usage of available information sources	This will be used to assess Veteran point-of-entry and most frequent source for finding information about VA benefits and to evaluate usage patterns. This information will be used in the context of overall satisfaction with benefit information, including ease of accessing, availability, usefulness, and clarity of information and identifying information sources where any of these attributes has the potential for improvement.
	a.      VA website
	b.      VetSuccess.gov
	c.      eBenefits.va.gov
	d.      Mail (from VA)
	e.      VA phone number (800-827-1000)
	f.        Transition Assistance Program/Disabled Transition Assistance Program briefings
	g.      Veterans Service Organizations, e.g., Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, etc. (Specify) ___________________
	h.      VA medical center
	i.        VA Vet center
	j.         In person at a Regional Office
	k.      Social media websites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
	l.         Visit from a VA employee
	m.    Other Veterans
	n.      Internet (excluding VA and social media sites)
	o.      Friends or family
	p.      Other publications (e.g., Army Times, local newspaper, etc.)
	q.      Other (Specify) ___________________
	r.        Don’t know or not sure
2	What method(s) do you MOST FREQUENTLY use to obtain general information about VA’s benefits or services? (Mark all that apply)	Outreach Requirement	Identify most preferred communication channel for benefits information	This question will assess the optimal channel of communications to help maintain an optimal communication strategy for outreach to Veterans about their benefits.
	a.      Phone
	b.      Mail
	c.      E-mail
	d.      In person at a Regional Office
	e.      Veterans Service Organizations, e.g., Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, etc. (Specify) ___________________
	f.        Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program
	g.      VA website
	h. VetSuccess.gov
	i. eBenefits.va.gov
	j.         Social media websites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
	k.      Other websites (excluding VA or social media sites)
	l.         VA medical center
	m.    VA Vet center
	n.      Friends or family
	o.      Other publications (e.g., Army Times, local newspaper, etc.)
	p.      Other (Specify) ___________________
	q.      Don’t know or not sure
	r.        None of the above
3	How frequently would you like to receive communications (e.g., e-mails, letters, newsletters, etc.) about VA benefits or services? (Mark only one)	Outreach Requirement	Measures the frequency of communications received from VA about their benefits	This question will assess the optimal frequency of communications, in addition to the number of communications, to help maintain an optimal communication strategy for outreach to Veterans about their benefits.
	a.      Weekly
	b.      Monthly
	c.      Quarterly (every 3 months)
	d.      Semi-annually (twice per year)
	e.      Annually (once per year)
	f. Never
	g. Don’t know or not sure
4	How would you like to receive information from VA about benefits or services? (Mark all that apply)	Outreach Requirement	Assess Veterans' preferred communication methods	This question will help to assess the most desired methods of communication about VA benefits or services and help guide the strategy for information outreach to Veterans.
	a.      Phone
	b.      Mail
	c.      E-mail
	d.      VA website
	e.      Social media websites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
	f.        In person at a Regional Office
	g.      Veterans Service Organizations, e.g., Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, etc. (Specify) ___________________
	h.      Other (Specify) ___________________
	i. Don’t know or not sure
	The following question asks you to rate various aspects of your experience with benefits, using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is Unacceptable, 10 is Outstanding, and 5 is Average.
5	When thinking about your most frequently used methods of communication please rate your experience in obtaining information about your pension benefit on the following items: (Mark only one per row)		These items will be used in the development of the index model, which will determine the factors that have the largest impact on the overall Veteran experience with the Servicing of their benefit.	Satisfaction with the benefit information represents one of the main elements of Veterans' experience with the ongoing servicing of their benefit. These items represent key attributes in the ongoing servicing process and will be compared to other factors to determine the areas of improvement with the greatest overall impact. These metrics will also allow us to compare the experience of Veterans with different information usage patterns and informational needs during the ongoing servicing of their benefit.
	a.      Ease of accessing information	VBA Performance Metric
	b.      Availability of information	VBA Performance Metric
	c.      Clarity of information	VBA Performance Metric
	d.      Usefulness of information	VBA Performance Metric
	e. Frequency of information provided by VA	VBA Performance Metric
	f.      Overall rating of information	VBA Performance Metric
Factor 2	Contact with VA		Determine if Veteran experience differs based on the level of contact and issue resolution during the ongoing benefit servicing	Satisfaction with the servicing experience may be higher or lower dependent upon Veterans' level of contact and issue resolution after their benefit has been awarded. The level of contact will be determined in this section. These questions will help us differentiate Veteran satisfaction based on level of contact and issue resolution, identify areas where improvements to the process can occur and prioritize them based on the impact of the Contact factor to overall Veteran satisfaction.
6	During the past 6 months, did you contact anyone from VA about your benefit? (Mark only one)	Contact/Resolution Assessment	Assess whether or not contact occurred	This question allows us to assess whether or not someone has had a contact with VA about their benefit recently enough to evaluate their experience with the contact. Individuals who have had recent contact with VA about their benefit may exhibit different levels of satisfaction than those who have not had recent contact. This question allows us to assess the variation between these two groups.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	(Ask Q7-Q12 if Q6 is yes, otherwise go to Q13)
7	Which of the following best describes the reason for your most recent contact? (Mark only one)	Contact/Resolution Assessment	Evaluate the reason for the call	The reason for calling may contribute to the satisfaction related to the call experience. It is important to understand how satisfaction varies based on the type of call. This information will be used in conjunction with the VBA Call Center Satisfaction Research to analyze methods of contact/resolution.
	a.      Resolve a problem
	b.      Ask a question
	c.      Request a change to your records/provide information
8	Can you briefly describe the nature of your most recent contact? (Mark all that apply)	Contact/Resolution Assessment	Assess the nature of the call	Understand the specific reason for the call to help identify potential needs of various groups of Veterans and the ability of VA to respond to those needs. This information may assist in developing actionable recommendations for training, information communication, etc. This information will be used in conjunction with the VBA Call Center Satisfaction Research to analyze methods of contact/resolution.
	a.      Update your dependency status
	b.      Change your address or direct deposit information
	c.      Provide verification documents required for payment (e.g., income verification, medical records, etc.)
	d.      Report the death of an individual who received VA benefits
	e.      Report that you did not receive your VA check or direct deposit
	f.        Resolve a problem with your benefits
	g.      Find out about a late benefit payment
	h.      Report a problem with a VA customer service representative
	i. Ask a general question
	j.         Obtain information about submitting/re-opening a claim
	k.      Other (Specify) ___________________
9	Thinking about your most recent contact, how did you contact VA? (Mark only one)	Contact/Resolution Assessment	Allows us to measure the satisfaction with various methods of communication	Veterans' experiences with contacting VA may differ based on the method they use for contact. This may highlight contact methods that are used most frequently by Veterans and help identify processes VA can use to optimize those communication channels.
	a.      Phone
	b.      Fax
	c.      Website
	d.      E-mail
	e.      Mail
	f.        In person
10	Was your most recent issue resolved? (Mark only one)	Contact/Resolution Assessment	Allows us to measure issue resolution	Veterans who have their issue resolved upon contacting VA may have different levels of satisfaction than those who do not have their issue resolved. This will allow us to set benchmarks for issue resolution and identify areas where contact can be improved based on the reason or nature of the call. This information will be used in conjunction with the VBA Call Center Satisfaction Research to analyze methods of contact/resolution.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	(Ask Q11 if Q10 is No, otherwise go to Q12)
11	Why wasn’t your most recent issue resolved? (Mark all that apply)	Contact/Resolution Assessment	Allows us to identify the reasons why issues were not resolved	This is important because it allows us to evaluate the reasons why there may be different levels of resolution depending on the nature and or reason for the call and assist in developing actionable courses of action based on study results.
	a.      Did not receive all of the information required
	b.      Received incorrect information
	c.      Was referred to the incorrect office/person
	d.      Waiting for follow-up from VA
	e.      Other (Specify) ____________
	f.        Don't know or not sure
12	Thinking of your most recent contact with the VA, how would you rate your overall customer service experience with the VA or VA representatives using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is Unacceptable, 10 is Outstanding, and 5 is Average. (Mark only one)	VBA PerformanceMetric	These items will be used in the development of the index model, which will determine the factors that have the largest impact on the overall Veteran experience with the Servicing of their benefit.	Satisfaction with Contacting VA represents one of the main elements of Veterans' experience with the ongoing servicing of their benefit. These items represent key attributes in the ongoing servicing process and will be compared to other factors to determine the areas of improvement with the greatest overall impact. These metrics will also allow us to compare the experience of Veterans with different levels of contact during the ongoing servicing of their benefit.
Factor 3	Benefit Entitlement		Determine if Veteran experience differs based on the level of engagement with VBA after the beneficiary is in receipt of a claim	Satisfaction with the servicing experience may be higher or lower dependent upon the level of interaction a Veteran has with VBA after their benefit has been awarded. The level of interaction will be determined based on the various experiences a Veteran might have after they are in receipt of a claim. These various experiences are represented in this section. These questions will help us differentiate Veteran satisfaction based on the various touch points related to their benefit entitlement, identify areas where improvements to the process can occur and prioritize them based on the impact of the Benefit Entitlement factor to overall Veteran satisfaction.
13	Have you submitted a claim for an increase in your benefit in the past 6 months? (Mark only one)	Benefit Experience Requirement	Measure the level of engagement with VBA during the ongoing servicing of a benefit	Veteran satisfaction with the benefit servicing experience may differ based on whether or not they submitted a claim for an increase in benefits. This question will be used to determine variation in the Veteran experience.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	c.      Don’t know or not sure
	(Ask Q2 if Q1 is Yes, otherwise go to Q16)
14	What is your preferred method to submit a claim? (Mark only one)	Contact Assessment	Measure the effectiveness of various methods of submitting a claim	Among those who submitted a claim, Veteran satisfaction may differ based on the method they used to submit the claim. This will help to identify areas where Veterans are experiencing difficulty with the process and potential opportunities for improvement.
	a.      Mail
	b.      In person at a Regional Office
	c.      In person at a Veterans Service Organization, e.g., Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed Veterans of America, etc.
	d.      Veterans Online Application
	e.      Other (Specify) ___________________
	f.        Don’t know or not sure
	(Ask Q14-17 if Q13 is Yes, otherwise go to Q18)
15	Did VA require you to provide additional medical evidence after you submitted your claim? (Mark only one)	Benefit Experience Requirement	Allow us to determine if the Veteran had an additional level of engagement with VBA related to having to provide additional or duplicate information	Veteran satisfaction may differ based on whether or not they have to provide additional information as a supplement to their original claim. This will help us identify an area of potential improvement based on a comparison of levels of satisfaction between those who did have to submit additional information versus those who did not.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	c.      Don’t know or not sure
	(Ask Q16 if Q15 is Yes, otherwise go to Q18)
16	Were you required to undergo a VA medical evaluation as a result of your claim? (Mark only one)	2004 C&P Satisfaction Study	Allows us to determine if the Veteran had an additional level of engagement as a result of having to schedule a medical examination	Veteran satisfaction may differ based on whether or not there were additional requirements that had to be completed in order to process the claim.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	c.      Don’t know or not sure
	d.      Not applicable
	(Ask Q17 if Q16 is Yes, otherwise go to Q18)
17	Did the exam seem appropriate and/or address your claimed condition(s)?	2004 C&P Satisfaction Study	Measures Veteran perception of the relevance of the exam	Veteran satisfaction may differ based on whether they perceive the exam to be appropriate to address the claimed condition(s). Current need from the line of business to understand perception of the exam as related to CPAP.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	c.      Don’t know or not sure
18	If you were previously found ineligible for VA pension benefit payments, did you understand why you were found ineligible? (Mark only one)	Benefit Eligibility Requirement	Measures the level of understanding of the appeal decision	Veterans who understood the decision may be more satisfied with the process overall than those who did not understand the decision. This allows us to measure whether or not Veterans' understand the information they are given and potentially identifies an area where the Veteran experience can be improved.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	c.      Don’t know or not sure
19	In the past 6 months, have you submitted any documentation required to verify your eligibility for benefits (e.g., income verification, marriage certificate, medical records, dependent information, etc.)? (Mark only one)	Benefit Experience Requirement	Allow us to determine if the Veteran had an additional level of engagement with VBA related to having to provide additional or duplicate information	Veteran satisfaction may differ based on whether or not they have to provide additional information to verify their eligibility. This will help us identify an area of potential improvement based on a comparison of levels of satisfaction between those who did have to submit additional information versus those who did not.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	c.      Don’t know or not sure
	Ask Q20 if Q19 is Yes, otherwise go to Q23)
20	Was there a change (increase or decrease) to your benefits based on the verification of the documents submitted? (Mark only one)	Benefit Experience Requirement	Measures receipt of benefit payments	This question is used to determine if there is variation in Veteran satisfaction based on whether or not interruptions to benefit payments occur.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	c.      Don’t know or not sure
	(Ask Q21 if Yes to Q20, otherwise go to Q22)
21	Were you informed as to the reason why your benefit payment was changed? (Mark only one)	Benefit Experience Requirement	Measures receipt of information related to interruptions or termination of benefit payments	This questions is used to determine if satisfaction is different between those who receive information about interruptions/termination of benefit payments versus those who do not receive information. This may be an area where a best practice and or benchmarks related to payment interruptions can be identified.
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	c.      Don’t know or not sure
	The following question asks you to rate various aspects of your experience with benefits, using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is Unacceptable, 10 is Outstanding, and 5 is Average.
22	Please rate your pension benefit payment on the following items: (Mark only one per row)		These items will be used in the development of the index model, which will determine the factors that have the largest impact on the overall Veteran experience with the Servicing of their benefit.	Satisfaction with the benefit entitlement represents one of the main elements of Veterans' experience with the ongoing servicing of their benefit. These items represent key attributes in the ongoing servicing process and will be compared to other factors to determine the areas of improvement with the greatest overall impact. These metrics will also allow us to compare the experience of Veterans with different levels of engagement with VBA during the ongoing servicing of their benefit.
	a.      Amount of benefit payment	VBA Performance Metric
	b.      Timeliness of receiving benefit payment	VBA Performance Metric
	c.      Overall rating of benefit	VBA Performance Metric
	Overall Experience with Benefit
23	Thinking about ALL aspects of your experience with your pension benefits, please rate VA overall, using a 1 to 10 scale where 1 is Unacceptable, 10 is Outstanding, and 5 is Average. (Mark only one)	VBA Performance Metric	This item will be used in the development of the index model and will assist in creating an overall satisfaction score at the benefit servicing level.	All factors will be assessed in the context of the overall satisfaction score to understand the relative importance of each factor on Veterans' overall satisfaction.
	Overall Experience with VA
24	Taking into consideration all of the non-medical benefits (e.g., education, compensation and pension, home loan guaranty, vocational rehabilitation and employment, insurance, etc.) you have applied for or currently receive, please rate your experience with VA overall, using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is Unacceptable, 10 is Outstanding, and 5 is Average. (Mark only one)	VBA Performance Metric	This item will be used in the development of an index model for VBA overall across benefit lines and benefit status types (enrollment and servicing).	Overall satisfaction with each benefit line at the enrollment and servicing level will be evaluated in the context of the overall experience with VA to understand the relative impact of different experiences across benefit lines.
25	How likely are you to inform other Veterans or beneficiaries about your experience with VA benefits or services? (Mark only one)	VBA Performance Metric	Assess Veteran advocacy of VA benefits or services	Veterans with a more positive experience with the benefit line and VA overall may be more likely to positively advocate VA to their peers. This question will help identify changes in advocacy based on changes in the level of satisfaction over time.
	a.      Definitely will not
	b.      Probably will not
	c.      Probably will
	d.      Definitely will
26	Do you have any other comments or concerns about your experience? (Open Capture)	Benefit Experience Requirement	Allow Veterans' the opportunity to provide additional information related to their experience	Veterans' may have additional information related to their experience that will help understand and interpret their overall experience. This may include elements of the experience that are not easily captured in quantitative form.
	Additional Questions
27	How are you currently using your benefit payment? (Mark all that apply)	Socio-Economic Differentiator for Congress/VA Leadership	Assess the usage of the benefit payment	Veterans who have different experiences in the ongoing services of their benefit may have different levels of satisfaction or exhibit different needs based on how they are using their benefit payment. For example, someone who is using their benefit payment for savings may be less impacted than someone who is using it for a rent/mortgage payment. This helps assess Veterans' needs.
	a. Rent/mortgage payment
	b. Paying bills
	c. Paying down debt
	d. Medical expenses
	e. Education expenses
	f. Establishing savings
	g. Other (Specify) ___________________
	h. Prefer not to state
	i. Don’t know or not sure
28	Would you like to provide an e-mail address so VA can contact you with general information about VA benefits and services? (Mark only one)	Contact Assessment	Opt-in for future contact by VA	Consent to contact respondent with more information on benefits and programs
	a.      Yes
	b.      No
	c.      I do not have an e-mail address
	d.      Prefer not to answer
	(Ask Q50 if Q49 is Yes)
29	Please enter your preferred e-mail address where you would like to be contacted: (Open Capture)	Contact Assessment	Email contact information	Send additional information from VA to veterans - i.e. eBenefits information
	a.      E-mail: