Shelly Butler and the Unified Claims Acceleration Platform (UCAP) team is being honored in Category 4: Using Innovative Technologies to Deliver Simple, Seamless, and Secure Services for using artificial intelligence to transform VA claims processing and help Veterans receive critical benefits faster. Faced with claims taking more than 140 days to process, the team developed an AI-driven approach that addresses delays, inconsistent processes, and labor-intensive manual reviews.

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Working closely with VA stakeholders, the team developed a proof of concept that uses advanced AI to automatically extract and summarize clinical information from Service Treatment Records. That work evolved into UCAP, a scalable platform that integrates generative and agentic AI with existing VA systems to streamline claims processing from end to end. By replacing fragmented workflows with intelligent automation and standardized outputs, the platform improves efficiency, consistency, and transparency for both Veterans and employees.

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The results demonstrate significant potential for improving the Veteran experience. The solution reduced processing times from more than 140 days to 11–37 days for 95% of claims—a 75% improvement. Employees benefit from reduced manual review and administrative burden, allowing them to make faster, more consistent, and more confident decisions. By applying AI to one of VA’s most consequential service-delivery processes, the UCAP team is helping Veterans receive the benefits they have earned more quickly and reliably.