WellHive welcomes new guidance from the American Medical Association spotlighting Enterprise Patient Scheduling (EPS).
AMA guidance reinforces EPS as a practical solution for reducing scheduling friction and accelerating access to approved community care appointments
ARLINGTON, VA. — May 5, 2026 — WellHive welcomes new guidance from the American Medical Association spotlighting Enterprise Patient Scheduling (EPS). Powered by WellHive technology, EPS is a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs capability that enables VA staff to schedule approved community care appointments directly into participating providers’ existing scheduling systems.
Published April 23, 2026 as part of the AMA’s Advocating for veterans’ health series, the article, “Enterprise Patient Scheduling (EPS): What community physicians need to know about VA scheduling,” explains how EPS helps reduce the phone calls, faxes, and back-and-forth coordination that have historically slowed appointment scheduling for Veterans referred to community care.
For WellHive, the AMA’s guidance underscores the national importance of EPS and validates the technology built to help solve one of healthcare’s most persistent challenges.
“The AMA has put into clear, practical terms what WellHive and the VA have been proving in the field: EPS makes it easier to move Veterans from referral to confirmed community care appointment,” said Chris Bickell, Chief Executive Officer of WellHive. “As a fully funded VA program, EPS is free for providers to participate, built around their existing workflows, and focused on removing the scheduling friction that too often delays access to care.”
EPS is currently deployed and accessible at 140 VA medical centers nationwide, supporting access for more than 7 million Veterans who receive care through VA each year. The platform connects schedulers to a robust provider network spanning more than 75 specialties. On average, appointments in EPS are scheduled in less than seven minutes, compared with manual coordination that can span hours or days for a single appointment.
The Technology Behind EPS
WellHive’s technology enables VA staff to schedule approved initial appointments directly into participating providers’ current scheduling systems, while allowing practices to control the availability they choose to share. EPS also places the referral authorization number into the provider’s existing system, helping ensure that appointment details and authorization information stay connected. Providers can be confident that their data and their patients’ information are protected through WellHive’s secure, HIPAA-compliant infrastructure. WellHive is also FedRAMP High authorized, meeting the federal government’s most rigorous security standards for cloud-based systems.
“The power of EPS is that it does not ask physicians to rip and replace their workflows,” said Chris Bickell. “It meets practices where they are. WellHive’s technology connects VA demand with community provider supply in a way that is operationally simple, scalable, and respectful of current provider workflows.”
Expanding Access for Veterans
Community care is one of the most important access pathways in American healthcare. For Veterans, the difference between a referral and completed care often depends on how quickly and accurately the first appointment is scheduled.
EPS focuses on that critical first step. By replacing manual coordination with a multi-network infrastructure that connects VA scheduling workflows with community provider availability, WellHive helps the VA and community providers move faster together, reducing administrative burden for practices and helping Veterans get one step closer to care.
Community practices interested in participating in EPS can contact the VA at EPSOutreach@va.gov or visit wellhive.com to learn more about WellHive’s role in supporting EPS.
About WellHive
WellHive is the first and only healthcare platform designed to bridge the gap between federal and commercial healthcare systems. By bringing together decades of experience with agencies such as NASA, DoD, and VA, WellHive’s proprietary technology helps healthcare systems seamlessly and securely navigate patient care across system and organizational boundaries. WellHive is FedRAMP authorized and has partnered specifically with the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve access to care for all Veterans. To learn more about WellHive's technology, visit www.wellhive.com.
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Reference: “Enterprise Patient Scheduling (EPS): What community physicians need to know about VA scheduling,” American Medical Association, April 23, 2026.
