The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced this week that it has fully deployed its External Provider Scheduling (EPS) system across all VA medical facilities, a move the agency said will help speed up scheduling for veterans receiving community care.
The system is designed to streamline the process of booking appointments with non-VA providers. VA said the EPS platform gives its schedulers direct access to community providers’ appointment availability, eliminating the need for repeated phone calls between VA staff, veterans, and outside providers.
VA said the nationwide rollout of EPS builds on the agency’s efforts to expand care options for veterans under the MISSION Act, which allows eligible veterans to receive care from community providers.
“When President Trump signed the MISSION Act, Veterans eligible for community care were guaranteed the right to choose the health care that’s best for them, whether at a VA facility or a community provider,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a March 9 press release.
“We are making it easier and more convenient than ever for those who have worn the uniform to choose the care that best fits their lifestyle,” Collins added.
The EPS system enables VA employees to book as many as 25 appointments per day, according to the VA.
Today, the agency said 27,000 community care providers across 78 medical specialties are participating in the EPS program. This is up from May 2025, when about 6,000 providers were active in EPS.
At a House VA Technology Modernization Subcommittee hearing last May, members encouraged the agency to grow the number of providers in EPS.
The subcommittee’s chairman, Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich., welcomed the system’s full deployment across VA facilities.
“The VA’s expansion of the streamlined scheduling system is welcome news for veterans,” said Barrett. “Too often, veterans are left waiting while staff place lots of phone calls back and forth between veterans and providers to find available community care appointments.”
Barrett introduced the Veterans Community Care Scheduling Improvement Act last May, which would mandate nationwide implementation of EPS to help reduce healthcare wait times. The bill passed out of the House VA Committee in February.
“I’m proud the VA is adopting the reforms from my bill, and I will continue pushing to get this bill signed into law to make sure these improvements are fully and permanently implemented for every veteran,” he said.
The VA’s goal is to sign up thousands of additional community care providers for EPS in 2026. It’s free for providers to participate in EPS, and community care providers can learn more here about how to participate.