Summary
The mere idea of interacting with the DMV or the IRS makes any of us groan. But what if a dysfunctional government service is what’s standing between you and the ability to keep your house, feed your family, or get a kidney? Hear from Marina Martin, the most recent Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about the trials, tribulations, and ultimate successes of her team’s fight to get usable healthcare application into the hands of our nation’s Veterans. She’ll cover key tactics for leaders in bureaucracies of all sizes to prioritize and drive the end user amid regulations, red tape, and committee meetings through stories from her five years in the federal government.
Key Insights
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The VA had a backlog of over 847,000 unprocessed health care applications for veterans.
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Many veterans believe they automatically receive health care, which is not the case due to qualification criteria.
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Only eight veterans submitted applications online despite its efficiencies.
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Dominic's experience highlighted critical usability flaws in the VA's online application process.
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The launch of vets.gov led to momentous changes, allowing for the instant enrollment of 369,000 veterans.
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User-centric design can catalyze significant improvements in government services.
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Bureaucracies can be reformed by utilizing their own structures and processes effectively.
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Bridging silos within organizations can reveal latent potential for collaboration and efficiency.
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Understanding user experiences is key to effective technological solutions.
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Marina is now applying her learnings from the VA to improve systems in foster care.
Notable Quotes
"Every day at VA, we were in the headlines for something."
"Most people think that veterans in America automatically get health care. That is not the case."
"So discovering that, we thought, huh, why would only eight people fill out this online application?"
"It's broken in its own way. It is confusing."
"This is much easier. This is extremely easy. I'd use this over anything to be honest."
"By our count, Dominic had tried to apply 12 times."
"This video was the viral video that finally changed things."
"When you try to go at it sort of head-on, it has a lot of defense mechanisms."
"We built basically a turbo tax for disability exams."
"It took two and a half years to get there."
More Videos
"When I got there in very late, oh seven, there was about 28 people. There's about 60 now."
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