“Innovation within Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is not a new concept. The pacemaker, nicotine patch, bar code medication administration system, and many other innovative breakthroughs have origins within VHA. Innovation empowers frontline staff to take calculated risks, methodically test assumptions, learn from failure, and thrive in uncertainty. Our ability to adapt and rapidly spread innovation throughout VHA, epitomizes what it means to be a learning organization. To solidify our continued commitment to delivering the best care to Veterans through innovation, VHA launched the Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning (OHIL) in October of 2020 under the VHA Office of Discovery, Education, and Affiliate Networks.”
“Since its launch, VHA OHIL has brought together three powerhouse programs in order to deliver on VHA’s mission to innovate: VHA Innovation Ecosystem (VHA IE), the Simulation Learning, Evaluation, Assessment and Research Network (SimLEARN), and the Center for Care and Payment Innovation (CCPI). Through these core programs, VHA OHIL advances healthcare delivery and service by:
- Fostering the discovery and spread of grassroots and strategic innovative solutions, practices and products across VHA;
- Promoting competencies in innovation and simulation;
- Combining clinical simulation and training to further enhance the utilization and uptake of emerging healthcare technology in clinical practice;
- Developing innovative approaches to testing payment and service delivery models; and
- Advancing the use of clinical training and simulation to further VHA’s mission of becoming a high reliability organization.”
“Leveraging the accumulated experience and immense passion of VHA employees within America’s largest integrated healthcare system, VHA OHIL fosters the design and diffusion of innovation in collaboration with a vast community of external organizations from academic, industry, nonprofits, and other government agencies. Together, we collectively deliver innovative solutions that change and save Veteran lives.”
“In this report, you will find a number of example of how VHA is breaking boundaries to deliver on our innovation promise. We are excited to share this report celebrating the gamechangers who are meeting the current, and future, healthcare needs of our Nation’s Veterans. We invite you to think about what else is possible when we have the courage to break boundaries through innovation.”
Read the full 34-page report here.
Source: VHA State of Innovation Report: Innovation is Changing and Saving Lives – October 2021. VA.
