EP procedures

Verify claimant identity, date of claim, benefit type, issue count, POA, form, signature, and substantially complete status.

Confirm every relevant service period, dates, character of discharge, and any service-verification gap before using the period for entitlement.

List all claimed issues and theories; add usable alternate contention names; screen special issues, flashes, tracked items, restricted access, and reasonably raised matters.

Confirm required notice, then map existing, identified, Federal, VA, private, and claimant-held evidence for each issue.

Request records, follow required attempts, document unavailability, and order the correct examination or opinion only when the applicable criteria are met.

Address claimed, inferred, and ancillary matters; apply the correct theory, evaluation, effective date, and benefit-of-the-doubt analysis.

Check award action, payment effects, signatures, POA handling, notice, codesheet/system entries, tracked items, and the final EP disposition.