Highlights
- Built a Python automation that retrieves prior DBQs from S3, merges them into a single date-ordered PDF, and uploads it to the provider's active case — eliminating manual portal searches and replacing ~3 FTEs of effort for ~$300,000 in annual savings
Project Narrative
Providers performing a disability exam often need the veteran’s previous DBQs, but prior exams completed by the program weren’t in the VHA medical records. To get them, a provider had to leave their current case, go into the portal, search up the earlier case, and review those exams manuall. I wrote a Python script that pulled the prior DBQs from S3, merged the PDFs in order of exam-completion date, and uploaded the consolidated file directly to the provider’s current case, so everything they needed was in one place without leaving the case they were working. Because the account runs on transactional pricing, this wasn’t only a convenience: faster, lower-friction exams let each provider complete more appointments, and more appointments is more billable revenue. The task had previously consumed full-time resources the automation replaced an estimated 3 FTEs of effort and saved roughly $300,000 annually before the project scale up.