Innovation has long been a cornerstone of the work we do at VA, from developing the first implantable cardiac pacemaker in 1960 and the first electronic health record in 1970 to being one of the first U.S. health care systems to adopt 5G and test its use cases in 2020.
With the theme of “From Promise to Progress: Evolving Veteran Healthcare,” our annual State of Innovation Report highlights some of the innovative projects we’ve undertaken this year. Through these innovations, we encourage our employees to test assumptions and reinvent care models, allowing us to better reach the diverse population of Veterans we serve.
Curious about what we’ve done? Try this on for size.
- Concerned that many Veterans are experiencing social isolation, which increases the risk of mental health issues, VA Immersive implemented the Peer Social Support pilot. This program provides access to virtual reality (VR) platforms that offer opportunities to cultivate camaraderie and connection. The program also provides training for VA providers who are offering VR headsets to Veterans, focusing on effectively supporting the use of the virtual platform.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because at VA, we make innovations in health care a daily reality.
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Read more about our State of Innovation Report and explore some of the highlights at VA Careers.
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A few comments. The first electronic records was a failure. I had several clients who had their Medical and Military records lost or mixed with others and almost never properly recovered and so an Officer became enlisted- period, end of discussion. Medical records were lost and irreplaceable. The staff, with few exceptions, were friendly, fun, really liked to joke around and make the Vietnam Veterans welcomed and right at home. At least, until they had real work to do to help in addition to to getting files, putting them in a lock bag that was almost impossible to cut. Beyond that, they’re was little eagerness, obvious annoyance and a great deal of incompetence. This includes Doctors. One client of mine had a Doctor tell him he should apply for Social Security Disability but failed to tell him about VA benefits he couldn’t be entitled to. The VA ended up paying him $35M plus 100% service connection permanent and total. He was never to be bothered by the VA accept to make sure anything he applied for was approved quickly. Now the VA needs good employees. Employees who don’t mind working hard and learning all they can to improve help to all Veterans. As for the heat transplant. Veterans have long been guinea pigs. How many died or suffered serious discomfort for being guinea pigs with less than qualified Nursing care or MD care before one got lucky and how long did that first transplant patient live. I’m retired. I’m 63 and an exceptional Attorney. Most of my experience was in Washington DC. I was the youngest Senior Litigator at a major DC Law firm, second in my Law school class at Stanford. When I retired I thought I could find away to help Veterans and the VA. I had helped a few Government Agencies during my years in DC. They gave me excellent recommendations. The VA said I was to close to mandatory retirement. I replied that mandatory retirement was not relevant if I was still able to do my job and I had 7 years before mandatory retirement would be an issue. Never heard from them.