“As the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continues mobilization efforts to support the COVID-19 pandemic, VA’s Office of Information and Technology (OIT) is partnering closely with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to ensure that Veterans continue receiving top-quality care. Thanks to the recent efforts of VHA and OIT’s Account Management Office (AMO), Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO), and IT Operations and Services (ITOPS), one such successful collaboration enhanced the Consult Toolbox (CTB) to allow VA providers, clinicians, and support staff to prioritize appointment scheduling during COVID-19… Dr. Brian Hertz of VHA recognized the need to incorporate standardized language into the referral process and collaborated with Dr. Charles Demosthenes of the Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization to develop the COVID-19 enhancements to the Consult Toolbox (CTB)…”
“The new tool rolled out at the seven sites and was monitored for 24 hours, then rolled out nationally and was deployed in record time. Typical duration is 30 days; this deployment was completed in only five days. This effort could not have been successful without the seven initial IOC sites: Salisbury, Fort Harrison, Salt Lake City, Madison, Puget Sound/Seattle, Houston and Tennessee Valley VA Health Care Systems and Medical Centers.”
“Alongside development and testing, VHA business partners were instrumental in developing and deploying critical training and communications related to the new feature. Through weekly communications calls staff members learned how to capture COVID-19 patient scheduling information, as well as how to triage and prioritize Veterans with critical needs to ensure they were accommodated first.”
“As a result of the solid teamwork, the national deployment of CTB COVID-19 is assisting VA providers, clinicians, and support staff with tracking, triaging, and grouping new consults and canceled appointments to deliver the most clinically urgent care to Veterans more quickly. And its value won’t end after the pandemic has passed; CTB COVID-19 will facilitate the return of regular patient care activities when normal operations return.”
“This accomplishment was an exemplary effort between…” Read the full post here.
Source: VHA and OIT Partnership Delivers Consult Toolbox Enhancement in Less Than 10 Days – May 26, 2020. DigitalVA.
