|
|
|
Share this email with your colleagues to make sure they get the latest VHA IE news: SUBSCRIBE
|
|
|
 VA Age-Friendly Health Systems Initiative aims to provide comprehensive care for older Veterans, integrating evidence-based practices into emergency medicine to achieve fewer hospital readmissions, better outcomes, and higher patient satisfaction.
Supporting Community, Outpatient, Urgent Care & Telehealth Services (SCOUTS), led by physician at Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center Dr. Colleen McQuown, is a complementary post-emergency care transition program for Veterans at risk for functional decline, hospitalization, institutionalization, falls, or repeat emergency department visits.
“SCOUTS provides an opportunity for ICTs to both provide Veterans with high quality care and build trust with them and their families,” explained Dr. McQuown. “We are able to really hear their story and bring VA to them. You just don’t get that when you’re in a busy emergency department where the Veteran is outside of their comfort zone.”
“The whole reason I came to the VA was to help take care of my fellow Veterans, as my mother did before me,” said Dr. Bill Kalacinski, an ICT at VA White River Junction Healthcare System. “It’s been an awesome experience with SCOUTS going into the homes and getting that deeper connection with the Veteran.”
|
Make time for your innovative ideas and join us on October 10th for the first session of VHA Innovation Ecosystem’s Incubator series! This eight-session series starts next week and will discuss strategies and technical skills for building, testing, and scaling your innovations, as well as feature experienced panelists in the innovation sphere.
Sign up here for individual classes! The Incubator, as well as all of IE’s offerings, exist to inspire, connect, and empower VA employees to be catalysts of change, creating a more innovative workforce dedicated to improving Veterans’ lives. Don't miss out on this opportunity to develop your skills and make a difference in the lives of Veterans!
|
|
|
There are only four weeks left until the 2024 VHA Shark Tank Competition during the 2024 VHA Innovation Experience (iEX)! This week’s featured innovations from cohort six are Physical Therapy Embedded Within PACT (PACT PT), Reducing Hospital Admission and Amputation Prevention: Remote Temperature Monitoring (RTM), and VA Lactation Program (VALP).
PACT PT offers readily accessible same-day care for Veterans referred to physical therapy with musculoskeletal, neurological, or pain-related issues. Originally established in 2008 at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, FL. As a result of PACT PT, Veterans experienced a reduction in new patient wait time by 37%; while pain referrals across VISN 23 decreased by 28%. Recognized as a 2020 VHA Shark Tank winner, PACT PT has provided care to over 12,400 Veterans in rural areas in 2024 alone. To learn more about PACT PT visit Diffusion Marketplace or read about the practice’s unique model for care and rehabilitation in a recent articles from The American Legion and VA News.
|
Veterans living with diabetes face the risk of developing recurring Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU), a serious complication that can result in amputation. RTM enables early intervention via thermal imaging for Veterans with diabetes, allowing for the detection of DFUs up to five weeks before they would normally present. Developed in May 2019 at Cincinnati VA Medical Center in Cincinnati, OH, RTM has already provided care to 10,000 Veterans nationally, with trial data showing a 40% reduction in ER visits among patients who are at risk. A 2020 VHA Shark Tank Competition winner, RTM currently operates at 96 VA facilities across the country. To learn more about RTM visit Diffusion Marketplace and listen to Josh Manis, VISN 10 RTM coordinator, on the C20 Podcast!
|
Launched in 2016, VALP provides structured virtual toolkits for national implementation of lactation programs for Veterans across the country. VALP’s standardized approach provides access to timely lactation support, with lactation consultants contacting patients an average of 9 times throughout the lactation process, ensuring access to essential care for Veterans in rural areas. 90% of VALP patients initiate lactation for an average duration of 7.5 months. After being named a 2020 VHA Shark Tank Winner, VALP replicated to new facilities and currently operates at 46 VA facilities across the country. To learn about VALP and how VA is using telehealth technology to reach lactating Veterans across the country, visit Diffusion Marketplace and listen to the innovation’s highlight on the Leave No Veteran Behind podcast. VALP was also featured on page 13 of the 2023 VHA State of Innovation Report.
|
|
|
This year’s Buddy Check Week, which takes place October 21-25, 2024, is a national campaign that encourages Veterans to connect or reconnect with their Veteran friends – just to check in. Buddy Check Week’s goal is to enhance peer-to-peer connections, improve mental health, and increase access to VA resources. Veterans and their families are encouraged take the pledge to Talk to 10 buddies during Buddy Check Week. Buddy Check Week resources can be found here.
Veterans Socials across VISN 19 (Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska) will be operating as Buddy Check sites that week to facilitate Veterans talking to 10 of their buddies. Dr. Jay Gorman, the Director of Social Reintegration Research Program at VA Bedford Healthcare System, spearheads Veterans Socials as part of his VHA IE Entrepreneur in Residence Fellowship.
“Veterans Socials across VISN 19, the network with the highest suicide rate among Veterans, have been able to reach more Veterans thanks to the support of VHA's Office of Rural Health (ORH). Independent of ORH, Veterans Socials in Oklahoma have also taken off, connecting more Veterans than before,” said Dr. Jay Gorman.
|
|
|
|
|
|
