After successfully implementing the practice at the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center in Montana, the team continued to expand ACDC across VA. The ACDC team has now implemented their innovation in 30 sites, reaching over 700 Veterans with hard-to-control type 2 diabetes.

“Veterans appreciate the way ACDC is delivered,” said Tiffany Beaver, VHA Office of Rural Health ACDC Project Coordinator, noting how Veterans report high satisfaction with the program. By improving access to diabetes management, the practice supports VA’s priority to connect Veterans to the soonest and best care.

With support from the Dynamic Diffusion Network QUERI Program, the team is evaluating implementation support strategies to promote uptake of evidence-based practices, including ACDC, at later adopting sites.

In the future, the team hopes to expand ACDC to all VA facilities. “ACDC improves health outcomes for Veterans with diabetes,” said Dr. Crowley. “There is a need for programs like ACDC to be implemented across the country.”

To learn more about ACDC and where it's available, explore their page on Diffusion Marketplace.

Next week, VA innovators representing 167 projects, their Innovation Specialists, and facility leaders will participate in a three day Bootcamp event in Northern Virginia to mark the beginning of their eight-month Spark-Seed-Spread accelerator program. At Bootcamp attendees deepen their understanding of empathy, participate in dynamic group activities that foster meaningful connections with fellow investees, and provide each other feedback to foster growth and development on their projects. This Bootcamp marks the beginning of the largest Spark-Seed-Spread cohort to date.

In case you missed the 2023 VHA Shark Tank Competition, 15 finalists pitched their innovations during VHA Innovation Experience (iEX) to compete for the chance to become one of this year’s 10 Promising Practices. The competition hosted over 350 in-person attendees and was livestreamed to viewers across the Nation. 

Ten finalists were selected as Promising Practices to work with Diffusion of Excellence (Diffusion) to replicate their innovations at a new VA facility. Congratulations innovators! 

Eight VA employees are joining the newest cohort of VHA Innovation Ecosystem Fellows this year. VHA Innovation Ecosystem Fellowships are a unique opportunity for VA employees to become catalytic leaders across the organization. These employees will spend a year gaining the experience and skills necessary to make a significant contribution to VA. “We witnessed an enormous amount of interest in Fellowships this year,” said Suzy Shirley, LCSW and Director of Fellowships for VHA IE. “That increase wasn’t just in application numbers, but in the diversity of applicants too. Employees from all over the country, from a variety of backgrounds and professions, are pursuing this opportunity to expand their impact and grow in their careers.” Learn more about each fellow by visiting their profile on the VHA IE Fellowship website. 

In case you missed it, VHA's Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning recently published their 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.