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Introducing the State of Innovation Report
For decades, innovation has supported VHA’s mission to deliver exceptional health care to Veterans. Early inventions like the cardiac pacemaker, recent innovations like the radiotherapy bolus that helps protect cancer patients’ healthy tissue during treatment, and every creative solution in between serve as a testament to VHA’s dedication to delivering high-quality health care.
Since 2019, VHA Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning (OHIL) has published an annual report, the State of Innovation (SOI) Report, that highlights notable VA innovations that are advancing the care for Veterans. The 2023 SOI Report is now here and with a clear focus—delivering on VA’s mission of serving those who have served our country.
Delivering on the Mission: Fostering Trust and Transforming Care
With the theme of "Delivering on the Mission: Fostering Trust and Transforming Care", the 2023 SOI Report focuses on educating and empowering Veterans to engage with the innovative projects and programs that are most relevant to their health care journeys. Earlier this year, VA announced an updated version of its 1959 mission statement. The new mission statement is “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those who have served in our nation’s military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.” As VA evolves to meet a wide variety of Veteran healthcare needs, the mission of serving those who served remains at the center.
A Glimpse Into the 2023 State of Innovation Report
This year’s report features projects which are organized into four categories: Expanding Access to Care, Transforming Care Delivery, Improving Experiences, and Fostering Health and Wellness.
Each section calls attention to the innovative programs and products that support the advancement of Veteran care, such as VA Pathfinder, Diffusion Marketplace, and the National Center for Collaborative Healthcare Innovation’s Smart White Cane device.
VA providers work tirelessly to give Veterans the care they deserve, and the providers behind the innovations in the SOI Report are no exception. These products and programs are the result of providers being keenly in tune with the needs of their Veteran patients and devising solutions to fill gaps in care.
  
Like Contraception on Demand (COD), a program developed by Drs. Deirdre Quinn and Sonya Borrero of the Pittsburgh VA Medical Center and Lisa Callegari of VA Puget Sound Health Care System. Together, they developed a program whereby Veterans seeking prescriptions for a new method were offered a 3-months supply, with the option to receive an extended supply after completing a follow up visit. During their study, 93% of Veterans opted to receive a 12-month supply. Since the study, VA released guidance allowing all eligible Veterans the option for 12-month dispensing. COD was selected as a Promising Practice at the 2022 VHA Shark Tank Competition and will be continuing its expansion efforts into 2023. You can read more about COD on page 9 of the report.
Like Dr. Saraswathy Battar, a Geriatrician at the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center. In 2016, while she was serving at the Little Rock VA Medical Center, Dr. Battar developed an idea for a methodology to improve the quality of life for Veterans through the reduction or deprescribing of potentially inappropriate medications (PIM). The program, called VIONE (Vital, Important, Optional, Not needed, and Every medication has an indication) was selected as a Promising Practice in the 2016 VHA Shark Tank Competition and was selected as a National Diffusion Practice in 2018. Now, VIONE is active at 133 VA facilities and has discontinued over 1.7 million unique PIM prescription orders for more than 700,000 Veterans. You can read more about VIONE on page 25 of the report.
And like Mission Daybreak, VA’s first ever grand challenge to prevent Veteran suicide, which is VA’s top clinical priority. The Mission Daybreak Grand Challenge announced its winners in February 2023: two first-place winners each received $3 million; three second-place winners each received $1 million; and five third-place winners each received $500,000. VA continues to work with a range of winning Mission Daybreak teams to identify new collaboration opportunities that will deliver on the mission of preventing Veteran suicide. You can read more about Mission Daybreak on page 71 of the report.
What Veterans Can Expect
Each article in the SOI Report informs Veterans about the need each innovation was designed to meet, how it was developed, how it has impacted other Veterans, and to whom they should reach out if they want to learn more.
To help Veterans further connect to these innovations, the report’s index lists the highlighted programs and demonstrates each program’s scale, including the exact VA facilities where each may be available and where to find more information online. Nearly every existing VA facility supports these programs in some way. The goal of the index—and the entire SOI Report—is to inform Veterans and give those who are eligible a clear path to taking advantage of the services featured in the report.
 
You can read the full 2023 SOI Report here to learn more about VHA innovations and the VA providers who brought them to life. Eligible Veterans are encouraged to connect with the innovations that are relevant to their health care journeys where possible. While some programs and products are in early stages of development, many are available to Veterans now at VA facilities across the United States.
Want to learn more about innovation at VA? Visit our website and visit VA Pathfinder to learn more about our opportunities. Have questions about the report? Email our communications lead at madison.coffey@va.gov.
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