The Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) option can be used by Servicemembers under certain conditions. If a Servicemember has an illness or injury that he or she believes was caused or made worse by active-duty service, the Servicemember can file a claim for disability benefits 90-180 days before leaving the military. The Servicemember must:

• be on full-time active duty (including a member of the National Guard, Reserves, or Coast Guard),
• have a known separation date in the next 90 to 180 days, and
• be able to report for examinations within 10 to 45 days from the date the claim was received.

An Integrated Disability Evaluation System (IDES) exam is a comprehensive General Medical examination. It serves the dual purposes of providing necessary clinical history and physical examination findings for Medical Evaluation Board referred conditions and for any claimed conditions noted by the Servicemember. Those findings are used by the uniformed service to determine if the Servicemember has a medical and or mental health condition(s) which prevents him or her from continuing in the service. If the Servicemember is subsequently discharged due to a medical or mental health condition, the IDES evaluation can also be used by VBA to determine disability ratings.

The Separation Health Assessment (SHA) is both a program and a documentation protocol (the form used to report C&P examination findings). VA and the Department of Defense (DoD) collaborated on the SHA examination and documentation protocol to improve the disability claim process for Servicemembers. The SHA is a comprehensive examination administered to all Servicemembers as part of the process of separation from active duty. A DoD clinician or a C&P examiner conducts this evaluation using the SHA documentation protocol.