Redirect Request - Referrals and requests page for Community Care self-scheduling

[cgednalske]

Instructions

• Requests must be submitted AT LEAST 2 weeks in advance. Some requests take a significant amount of time and coordination to implement, so start the process as soon as you know you will need one.
• This issue will be used from initial request through implementation to ensure all individuals working on this are notified of status updates. Please do not create multiple issues to track different steps.
• It is your responsibility to notify VA stakeholders as appropriate.

POC	Github alias(es)
Product team point(s) of contact:	@cgednalske @loripusey @StevenStraily @wullaski
Content point of contact:	CAIA will enter
IA point of contact:	IA will enter

Type of request

• We are retiring or taking down a page and need to redirect the URL (complete redirect section)
• We are changing the URL of an existing page (complete redirect section)
• We need a custom vanity URL (complete vanity URL section)
• We are removing a temporary redirect (add relevant background and link to original redirect request)

Do you have a product technical team able to implement this redirect?

• Yes - Please note: Redirect still needs approval from IA.
  • Please verify your team has reviewed Redirect governance and Redirect technical implementation information
    
• No - CAIA will need to make Public Websites aware of the ticket.

Implementation date

When does this request need to be live? NOTE: Redirects in vsp-platform-revproxy auto-deploy M-Th. Friday launches should be avoided.
Choose one:

• On a specific date, connected to a program or publishing requirement. DATE: TBD (after pilot is complete in Q2 of 2025)
• Any day prior to a deadline/latest possible date. DEADLINE:
• Any day after an earliest possible date. EARLIEST DATE:
• During a specific date range: EARLIEST DATE TO LATEST DATE:
• No hard timing requirements, publish when possible.

Redirects

Current URL	Redirect Destination or New URL
https://va.gov/my-health/appointments/pending	https://va.gov/my-health/appointments/referrals-requests

Vanity URLs

Vanity URL	Landing page
requested URL	landing page URL

Link to campaign landing page request issue, if relevant:

Process, Roles and Responsibilities

• Requesting team: Above information is provided
• Requesting team: All appropriate VA stakeholders are notified as appropriate
• IA: Request is vetted and documented and implementation plan is clear
• IA: Request is assigned to appropriate team for implementation
• Implementation team: Work is complete
• PR has received approval from redirect-approval group
• Implementation team: Validated in production
• Requesting team: Validates everything is correct in production and closes ticket

[kristinoletmuskat]

Assigning @mnorthuis and cc @sterkenburgsara

[mnorthuis]

@cgednalske Can you please provide some background and rationale for this change in URL? If there are designs related to this change, that would be helpful as well.

[cgednalske]

@mnorthuis yes absolutely. We have designs, background info, and I believe some research/feedback related to the change. I'll gather those up and send them shortly 🙂

[cgednalske]

@mnorthuis @sterkenburgsara here's some more background on the redirect. Happy to answer any additional questions as well.

Background

This redirect came about as part of the UAE (Appointments/Check-in) Community Care Self-Scheduling initiative (Initiative brief). The introduction of this scheduling flow requires that we begin displaying referrals in Appointments, because Veterans will start scheduling from approved referrals. As a result, we updated the Pending page to include referrals as well as requests, changed the name to Referrals and requests, and altered the page design significantly. Kristen McConnell also sought and received approval for us to move away from Pending.

Additionally, in research over the years, Appointments has often heard that "Pending" is a confusing term. While testing our CC self-scheduling task flow more recently, participants again called out Pending as confusing and said they expected a different page title that included referrals.

Initially, this updated page will be shown to the Community Care pilot participants only. After the pilot, all Veterans using the Appointments experience on va.gov will find Referrals and requests in place of Pending.

Designs

Below is the current Pending page and the new Referrals and requests page.

Pending page

Referrals and requests

[mnorthuis]

I will approve this redirect request so it does not hold up work...however, the continued use of sub-directories/hard-coded URLs for appointments of various statuses or types is poor IA that needs to be corrected. Please continue to work towards correcting the IA of this product.