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External Integrations

As you build on VA.gov, you will most likely need to connect your tool or application to one or more services or data sources that are external to the VA Platform. These external services are a mix of third party providers and data sources/services that are owned and maintained by the VA, outside of the Platform.

External integration glossary and application mapping

Service name

Description

Application/Component

Appeals/Caseflow

Appeals Information API

Appeals Status, Claims Status

ArcGIS

Interactive map server from ArcGIS.com

Benefits Gateway Service (BGS)

Provider of Veterans Benefits Administration data and business logic.

Letters, Claims Status, Dependency Claims, Payments, Debts, Debt Letters, Financial Status Report

DS Logon

Self-service logon ID created by the Defense Manpower Data Center as an enterprise identity credential that allows people affiliated with the Department of Defense (DoD) or the VA access to several websites using a single username and password.

Login/Profile

Enterprise Military Information Service (eMIS)

The service is the authoritative service for a Veteran's military service record and the coordination point for updates and corrections between the DoD and VA.

eMIS is being deprecated in favor of VaProfile in Q1 (October) 2023

Login/Profile, Healthcare Application

Eligibility Office Automation System (EOAS)

EOAS APIs provide a mechanism for submitting pre-need burial applications.
(Veterans submit a pre-need burial application when preparing for a future burial, rather than at the time of need. Scheduling a burial for a Veteran or family member is a separate application process.)

Application for Pre-Need Determination of Eligibility for Burial in a VA National Cemetery

Enterprise Veterans Self Service Portal Platform (EVSS)

EVSS APIs allow you to interface with Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) systems.

Claims Status, Appeals Status, Letters, Forms, Profile Endpoints Emails, primary_phones and alternate_phones, Addresses, DependentApplications, DisabilityCompensationForms, Documents, EVSSClaims, IntentToFiles, LettersPost911GIBillStatuses, PPIU, Healthcare Application

GI Bill Data Service (GIDS)

An administrative tool used to aggregate public data about education institutions.

GI Bill Comparison Tool

ID.me

A digital identity verification service used by many government agencies.

Login/Profile

My HealtheVet (MHV)

The VA's Personal Health Record for Veterans, Service members, their caregivers and others.

Secure messaging, Prescription refills, health records

Master Person Index (MPI)

The authoritative identity service within the VA, establishing, maintaining and synchronizing identities for VA clients, Veterans and beneficiaries.

Login/Profile, Healthcare Application, Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers, VAOS, Medical Copays

Search.gov

Powers search functionality on VA.gov. For more details, see search.gov.

Search

VA Profile (formerly known as Vets360)

Aims to be the golden record of contact information within the VA. Provides an all-encompassing profile of a person associated with the VA, providing information such as Contact info, Health Benefits and Military Personnel Data.

Login/Profile, Healthcare Application, Prefill

Veteran Information/Eligibility Record Services (VIERS)

Provides Veteran military history information services and interfaces with many data sources, including eMIS and EVSS.

All Claims, Claims for Increase, Disability Compensation, Education Benefits, Health Care Application

The Imaging Management System (TIMS)

Spool files generated from education benefits forms are sent to an SFTP server. TIMS collects the spool files from the SFTP server, parses the headers from each claim, and transforms and stores the claims for processing. We don't integrate directly with TIMS.

Education Benefits

Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS)

A workflow and claims management software solution custom-built for the Veterans Administration.

Burials, Pensions, Disability claim, Debt Letters

DMC

Debt Management Center

Debts, Financial Status Report

External service monitoring

While we don’t own these services, we do monitor their health and stability and report issues to OCTO-DE leadership. Awareness of external service performance can help you:

  • Understand how your product or feature might perform when it relies on an external service for performance

  • Make educated design and architecture decisions regarding cache strategies and error messaging

Related links:

More links and resources

Learn more about VA-related data, databases, data services and integration-related incident management protocols.

Troubleshooting and incident management

If there is a bug or performance issue with an external service, coordinate with the owner of that service to troubleshoot and resolve the issue. For contact information, see the External Service Integrations page.

If you can’t find the contact information you’re looking for, you can get help from the Platform in Slack.


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