QTC helps veterans get benefits faster with DocuSign eSignature

As CIO of QTC, Nader Nemati and the Information Technology team lead the digitization efforts of one of the largest independent medical examination providers in the U.S. 

For over 35 years, QTC has been providing services like pre-employment and disability exams for hundreds of thousands of claimants annually through a network of thousands of medical providers for over 90 different government agencies. Sticking to QTC’s values in name and in practice—quality, timeliness, and customer service—requires QTC’s technology and business teams to leverage technology to improve internal processes. 

That’s especially true when it comes to serving QTC’s veteran population. Veterans injured during their service rely on QTC and the VA to perform the medical exams necessary to receive benefits. Any delay in that process means veterans must wait additional days—or even weeks— for their much-needed benefits. Looking across QTC’s workflow, Nemati and the QTC team saw an opportunity to get completed exams to the Department of Veterans Affairs and other government agencies faster using several innovative process enhancements and DocuSign eSignature. 

“The sooner you can get the results back to the VA, the sooner the veterans can get their benefit determination reviewed by the VA,” says Luis Arcantur, QTC Product Manager. “That is a great mission that drives QTC to continuously look to improve its processes and timeliness in delivering the services.”

A custom integration for a unique workflow 

An exam request starts each relationship between QTC and a claimant. After the medical exam, the results are incorporated into one of many different disability benefit questionnaires. One of the last steps before the exams are reviewed and sent to the VA is the provider’s signature.

Getting the signature can create a bottleneck. Historically, documents were sent out for signature via secure electronic fax servers to the providers. With some providers working part-time or remotely, the delays accumulated. A more flexible, digital signature option could help get veterans their benefits in a timely way, so the QTC technology and business team partnered with DocuSign.

An implementation plan to drive adoption—and results 

QTC knew successful implementation of DocuSign eSignature would require buy-in from providers and the business stakeholders. The QTC provider liaison team developed an adoption campaign to communicate its value, with educational webinars, trained product experts at each of QTC’s 70+ clinics, and national call centers ready to field questions. 

“We outlined the ease of use, the fact that providers could sign from anywhere,” Arcantur says, “And also the security and compliance that come with using one of the biggest providers of electronic signatures.” 

In just months, QTC saw over 95 percent adoption and positive feedback from providers. The impact followed: Before eSignature, the median time to secure a signature was over 24 hours after an exam. That dropped to two hours, with many completed in seconds, across hundreds of thousands of documents— saving time across the organization.

“We were able to provide better customer service to veterans as a result of the improvement in timeliness,” says Nemati. “That time is critical for veterans, who are often acclimating to their service-related injury—and re-acclimating to civilian life.” Ensuring they can get their benefits expediently means QTC helps support that transition. 

A solution for current and future growth 

The number of veterans applying for disability has continued to grow. With DocuSign eSignature, QTC can process a higher volume without missing a beat. And as a result, more veterans are met with the customer service they deserve and receive their benefit determinations faster. 

The QTC team has expanded DocuSign eSignature throughout QTC to finance, human resources, provider liaison and several other teams The company is also looking at how the DocuSign Agreement Cloud could support other areas of QTC’s business. With the passage of the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act in 2018, there’s already an impetus in the federal government to digitize more processes—and QTC has seen firsthand how DocuSign can help support and drive its values of quality, timeliness and customer service.