Content of SOARs

6. PMC SOAR Topic Requirements

Introduction

This topic contains information on areas that must be covered in the PMC SOARs, including

• content of SOARs, and
• PMC SOAR for
• workload assignment and routing
• local quality of work
• deferrals
• erroneous payments
• special emphasis review, and
• UVR

Change Date

June 6, 2025

5.6.a. Content of SOARs

The review must cover all related factors outlined in each SOAR below.

Notes:

• The areas for review listed below indicate the minimum areas to be included.
• RO or Division management may expand the areas of consideration to ensure a thorough analysis is conducted in each process reviewed.
• National targets are those identified by the Directors Performance Plan. Local targets are those identified by local management. The latter is dependent on the station and if none exist, this should be noted in the final report.
• Sample reviews may need to be completed throughout the review period to accurately capture work in progress. This data should be maintained by the PMCs for use in the SOAR.
• PMCs should identify any shortcomings or challenges which impact analysis of each sub-topic. These items should then be submitted to the Pension and Fiduciary (P&F) Service, Quality, and Oversight mailbox (VAVBAWAS/CO/P&F QUAL OVRST) for consideration at the conclusion of each SOAR cycle.

Important: Each analysis must identify any potential problem areas drawn from assumptions and predictions based on the findings and analysis. All assumptions and predictions must be explained and supported with rationale that is clearly outlined and supported by quantitative and/or qualitative data (i.e., include sample reviews with results where applicable).

5.6.b. PMC SOAR for Workload Assignment and Routing

The annual SOAR for Workload Assignment and Routing must include analysis of

• non-rating workload
• rating workload
• VA priority workload (e.g. Homeless, Former Prisoner of War)
• trainee workload
• non-VBMS work items, and
• capacity management.

Effectiveness of workload assignment and routing for the aforementioned sub-topics should be measured by

• accuracy of routing to appropriate teams and individuals
• manual routing by management and employees
• work queue management, both team and individual
• time in queue, and
• capacity management.

PMCs should include an analysis of impacts to timeliness and effectiveness (e.g., training needs, external prioritization of workload, etc.) in order to identify proactive methods of workload management to reduce these effects.

Note: It is noted that there are no data sources available for the accuracy or manual routing of cases. Instead, PMCs are encouraged to review a sample of cases, broken out by applicable teams and roles, and to conduct interviews with personnel to determine effectiveness. PMCs should also review local routing rules for redundancies and incomplete or incorrect routing of workload.

Reference: For more information on creating VBMS routing rules, see the Workload Management Job Instruction Sheet.

5.6.c. PMC SOAR for Local Quality of Work

The annual SOAR for Local Quality of Work must include analysis of

• compliance with established targets (local, if applicable, and national)
• local error trends to include
• communication of trends to leadership and employees, and
• remediation efforts for identified error trends, and
• timeliness of error corrections.

The SOAR for local quality of work should also include a sample review and analysis of

• local reconsideration decisions to include
• overturn rates
• quality of initial quality reviews, and
• quality of reconsideration decisions
• locally completed reviews (i.e., those completed by the station’s Quality Review Team members) to include
• quality of reviews, and
• timeliness of review (from assignment to completion)
• in process reviews to include
• quality of reviews, and
• timeliness of feedback
• compliance with establishing claims in the correct system (e.g., VBMS, Share and Caseflow), and
• compliance with proper clearing/canceling of EPs and Work Items (must include sample review).

Reference: For more information on proper claims establishment and maintenance, see M21-4, Appendix B.

5.6.d. PMC SOAR for Deferrals

The annual SOAR for Deferrals must include analysis of

• quality of locally generated deferrals to include (must include sample review)
• accuracy of created deferral, and
• proper system action(s) to generate the deferral
• quality of locally resolved deferrals to include (must include sample review)
• accuracy of actions taken, and
• proper system action(s) to resolve the deferral
• manually resolved deferrals
• mitigated deferrals
• locally ‘Created by’ deferral trends to include
• communication of trends to leadership and employees, and
• remediation efforts for identified error trends
• locally ‘Caused by’ deferral trends to include
• communication of trends to leadership and employees, and
• remediation efforts for identified error trends, and
• timeliness of action (as measured by sample review).

Note: It is noted that there are no data sources available to measure timeliness of action. Instead, PMCs are encouraged to review a sample of cases, broken out by appropriate work types or teams, to determine average timeliness.

5.6.e. PMC SOAR for Erroneous Payments

The biannual SOAR for Erroneous Payments must include analysis of

• procedures and training for identifying erroneous payments
• administrative error decisions (must include sample review), to include
• quality of decision, and
• timeliness of action
• signature procedures for administrative error decisions, and
• maintenance of the erroneous payment log.

5.6.f. PMC SOAR for Special Emphasis Review

P&F Service will provide the PMCs with the designated topic for the annual SOAR for Special Emphasis Review The goal for this review is to conduct a deep dive analysis of a specific subset of the PMCs’ workload. Upon completion, this report should be submitted to the P&F Service, Quality, and Oversight mailbox (VAVBAWAS/CO/P&F QUAL OVRST) for consideration.

The SOAR for the special emphasis review must include analysis of

• compliance with established
• policy and procedure (must include sample review), and
• targets and goals (local, if applicable, and national), and
• training materials and compliance.

Example: Topics which may be chosen by P&F Service for the special emphasis review SOAR include, but are not limited to

• income adjustments
• notification letters (including Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) compliance)
• proper development (including medical examination/opinion and file/records requests), and
• temporary guidance.

5.6.g. SOAR for UVR

The SOAR for UVR must include an annual review and analysis of

• compliance with established targets (local, if applicable, and national)
• compliance with proper clearing/canceling of EPs, including a review of a sample of EP 500s
• quality of completed claims using a sample review of completed work to include a root cause analysis of each error found
• accuracy of systems compliance
• local UVR SOPs to ensure that all information is pertinent, current, and correct (if applicable), and
• local outreach efforts to ensure compliance with outreach requirements (M21-7) to include
• a determination if the outreach hours are properly recorded and if the minimum number of required outreach hours per quarter is met
• an assessment of the number and types of outreach engagements, and
• quality of outreach activities.

The SOAR must also document that

• all IVURCs
• reviewed and acknowledged the UVR processing guidance in M21-1 annually
• completed all UVR related TMS courses, and
• are listed on the IVURC Contact List, and
• the RO
• annually updates the POC sheet with designated VBA, VHA, and NCA contacts, and
• met quarterly with POCs from each site to discuss any personnel changes, challenges, metrics, and goals and review process flows to confirm the role of each administration.

Note: The IVURC POC for each RO is determined by the RO Executive Director or designee. This position is not limited to the PMC and may be an employee in the VSC or in the office of the RO Director. There also may be multiple IVURCs at an RO. Coordination of SOAR responsibility should be outlined when multiple IVURCs exist, to not duplicate efforts.