How VA Can Use Technology Advances to Meet Veteran Health Needs

In a Q&A with FedHealthIT CEO Susan Sharer, Guidehouse experts Lisa Mauti and Brian Jones, DO, discuss the technology advances necessary to serve Veterans by integrating community and social data as well as clinical records.

It is an exciting time at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with a concerted focus on accelerating innovation. The overarching goal is turning the immense amounts of data available inside the VA’s system into operational insights across all departments. The key is bringing in data science experts and thought leaders to partner with VA and evolve their capabilities, including around artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Innovations in how data is integrated representing social determinants of health from where Veterans work and live with VA’s vast clinical dataset in a way that efficiently informs decision-making from the exam room to the enterprise VA level, for instance, has the ability to revolutionize the delivery and cost of care. An example of this approach, Mission Daybreak, addresses the troubling and complex problem of the suicide rate among Veterans. Mission Daybreak invites a broad spectrum of organizations including health innovators, service members, clinicians, and advocates to collaborate on solutions aimed at curbing suicide. Likewise, making connections in communities through partnerships with public sector and commercial organizations offers unique insights into geographic indicators of risks like substance abuse and food insecurity.

The key to Veteran vitality lies in partnerships among commercial, public, and federal organizations with the shared goal of informing pathways and improving lives.

 Read the full FORUM executive Q&A