The MISSION Act requires that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) establish and review access standards and report findings and any proposed updates to Congress. VA needed support to evaluate its standards in comparison to those of federal agencies, state programs and private health systems. This effort involved extensive industry research, expert consultations and analysis of internal and external benchmarks.
VA partnered with Aptive HTG to deliver mission-critical operational support, drawing on the team’s experience in performance evaluation, data analysis and federal reporting.
Aptive applied a structured project execution model to meet reporting deadlines and manage program deliverables. The team followed established best practices adapted from the Project Management Institute framework, customized to VA’s operational needs. This approach ensured project alignment, effective team integration and consistency across planning, analysis and reporting.
Aptive led a comprehensive review of existing VA access standards. Building on earlier assessments, the team conducted consultations with federal and state agencies, including the Department of Defense, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Indian Health Service and other relevant organizations. Private-sector plans such as Medicare Advantage, Medicaid programs and commercial insurers were also analyzed.
After synthesizing data across government and commercial plans, Aptive evaluated the performance of VA’s access standards since their 2019 implementation. The team analyzed drive-time and wait-time metrics, measured their effectiveness and benchmarked results against external data sources. Findings from the analysis supported recommendations for potential standard modifications.
Deliverables were submitted within 25 business days, including a detailed Summary of Assessment and Findings to inform Congressional reporting.
Aptive supported logistics and facilitation for work sessions, leadership briefings and program governance meetings tied to interim updates and final report planning. The team managed preparation, execution and documentation for all meetings, ensuring objectives were met efficiently. Responsibilities included agenda development, outcome tracking and report finalization.
Aptive submitted the final Congressional report outlining findings from the access standards evaluation and rationale for any recommended changes. The team met all staffing targets on day one and exceeded expectations with deliverables such as white papers, visual reports and briefing materials.
Due to the quality of work and impact of the recommendations, VA extended Aptive’s contract to support the implementation of the proposed updates.
A perfect score for program staffing
Deliverables that exceeded client expectations
Extended option period to implement report recommendations
