Funded Industry Innovations
The following innovations were selected for funding from Industry Innovation Competitions. (Note: Awards are in progress. Winners will be announced as awards are made.)
Remote Blood Glucose Data Collection
Awardee: SweetSpot Diabetes Care
Pilot Location: Dayton, Ohio VA Medical Center
Topic: Telehealth
Aggregates and integrates data from multiple blood glucose monitors (including continuous monitors) to improve the ability for both patients and clinicians to track and monitor progress over time.
Remote Solution for OEF/OIF Mental Health Assessment
Awardee: Service Wing Healthcare
Pilot Location: VA San Diego, California Healthcare System
Topic: Telehealth
Digitizes an existing paper process by creating a web-based intake form for assessing the mental health of returning OEF/OIF Veterans. This will allow more Veterans to be screened at a higher level than is currently available. The project also involves using tablets to enable clinicians to do the screening in remote settings.
Telerehabilitation
Awardee: Kinetic Muscles, Inc. (KMI)
Pilot Location: Atlanta, Georgia VA Medical Center
Topic: Telehealth
Uses robotic devices to deliver stroke therapy at home and overcome barriers to access resulting from geographic location or treatment facility backlogs.
Patient-Centered Collaborative Management of Chronic Pain and Depression
Awardee: Interactive Performance Technologies (IPT)
Pilot Location: West Haven, Connecticut and Indianapolis, Indiana
Topic: Telehealth
Enables VA to better care for patients with chronic pain and/or depression by developing a system that allows nurse care managers to communicate regularly with Veterans online or on the phone for the remote management of Veterans’ chronic conditions.
Online Care
Awardee: American Well
Pilot Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota and Omaha, Nebraska
Topic: Telehealth
Provides easy-to-use telemedicine connections for post-operative recovery in the home, remote tele-mental health, and oncology treatment for Veterans.
Intelacare Support for TBI
Awardee: Affinity Networks
Pilot Location: VA Palo Alto, California Health Care System
Topic: Telehealth
Delivers disease management and medication adherence content to the cell phones of Veterans who have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The project is designed to improve care quality by extending the reach of VA clinicians and empowering patients.
Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community
Awardee: Soldier On
Pilot Location: Northampton, Massachusetts
Topic: Innovative Housing Solutions to Address Veteran Homelessness
Develops permanent supportive housing to help homeless Veterans live self-sufficiently and independently. The cost-effective units will be rapidly constructed using replicable, modular, green-energy building techniques.
Field Test of Modular Housing Solution
Awardee: Ridgewood/5 Stone Real Estate Partners with LaCité Development
Pilot Location: Martinsburg, West Virginia
Topic: Innovative Housing Solutions to Address Veteran Homelessness
Integrates green, energy-efficient, permanent housing with supportive services to help homeless Veterans become self-sufficient. The development will include an enclosed hydroponic farm to create on-site jobs.
CKD Buddy
Awardee: Medical Education Institute
Pilot Location: VA Connecticut Healthcare System (West Haven)
Topic: New Models of Dialysis and Renal Disease Treatment
Develops a 3-D, interactive “virtual clinic” to help Veterans learn about risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD), slow its progression, self-manage their condition, and choose a treatment option in the event of kidney failure.
Automated Wearable Artificial Kidney (AWAK)
Awardee: AWAK Technologies
Pilot Location: VA Puget Sound Health Care System (Seattle, Washington)
Topic: New Models of Dialysis and Renal Disease Treatment
The Automated Wearable Artificial Kidney (AWAK) allows Veterans to receive continuous peritoneal dialysis via a small (~ 3 lbs.) wearable machine. Continuous dialysis more closely mimics kidney function than does traditional peritoneal dialysis, allowing for better patient care and improved outcomes.
VigiLanz
Awardee: VigiLanz
Pilot Location: Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital (Chicago, Illinois)
Topic: Reducing Adverse Drug Events
Pilots a system to monitor patients on a real-time 24/7 basis in order to identify and prevent potential adverse drug events, manage medication dosages based upon changes in renal and hepatic clearance, and optimize anti-coagulant therapy.
Sentri7
Awardee: Pharmacy OneSource
Pilot Location: Greater Los Angeles, California Healthcare System
Topic: Reducing Adverse Drug Events
Pilots a real-time clinical data surveillance system for the prevention of adverse drug events (ADEs). The web-based software includes built-in triggers to identify patients at risk for an ADE. Clinicians will also be able to build new triggers to reflect evolving therapies and best practices.
Education for Veteran Entrepreneurs
Awardee: Eadvantage
Pilot Location: Potomac, Maryland
Topic: Integrated Business Accelerator
Provides a complete curriculum for Veteran entrepreneurs, from an entrepreneurship assessment for new entrepreneurs to courses in sales, marketing, finance, management, and strategy to help experienced entrepreneurs take their companies to the next level.
Advanced Care Management
Awardee: American TeleCare
Pilot Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota VA Health Care System
Topic: New Models of Dialysis and Renal Disease Treatment
Provides patients with the tools, equipment, and education to self-monitor their chronic kidney disease from home. This type of close monitoring can lead to the prevention and possible indefinite delay of the need for dialysis.
Business Incubator Facility
Awardee: Veteran Entrepreneurial Transfer (VETransfer)
Pilot Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin and St. Paul, Minnesota
Topic: Integrated Business Accelerator
Pilots a business incubator facility that will offer business mentors, a virtual online accelerator, and access to office space and other resources to help Veterans become entrepreneurs.
VetSuccess Employment Accelerator (VetSEA)
Awardee: Halfaker & Associates
Pilot Location: Roanoke, Virginia and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Topic: Integrated Business Accelerator
This virtual, online business accelerator will assist Veterans who are starting new businesses. The project will provide a collection of online tools and resources, combined with business coaches for hands-on mentoring.
CareConnect
Awardee: Magpie Healthcare
Pilot Location: Portland and Roseburg, Oregon VA Medical Centers
Topic: Telehealth
Gives VA clinicians a quick, easy, secure way to connect to on-call clinical staff automatically and to activate patient care teams faster. The pilot will assess the impact of new technology on efficiency and collaboration in VA hospitals.
TheraDoc
Awardee: DSS
Pilot Location: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Kansas City, and Chicago
Topic: Reducing Adverse Drug Events
Uses clinical and laboratory data in real time to reduce the risk of adverse drug reactions and medical complications. Clinicians will be able to generate lists of at-risk patients for performing rounds and will also have the ability to design and implement new algorithms.
Adverse Drug Event Trigger Tool
Awardee: Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
Pilot Location: Cincinnati, Ohio VA Medical Center
Topic: Reducing Adverse Drug Events
Enables clinicians to integrate clinical and laboratory data to predict which patients are at risk of adverse drug reactions. The tool will enable providers to extract and create reports of at-risk patients, which will allow for more efficient physician and clinical pharmacist rounding.
Predictive Analytics for Mobile Telehealth
Awardee: Venture Gain Bioinformatics (VG-Bio)
Pilot Location: George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Topic: Telehealth
Provides VA with the ability to monitor patients with critical conditions (chronic heart disease in this project) using wearable/wireless sensors, gathers data while patients are at home, reports the data back to a VA facility, and, most importantly, analyzes the data to predict incidents in order to enable proactive and preventive measures by clinicians and staff.
Agile iHealth
Awardee: Agilex
Pilot Location: Washington, DC VA Medical Center
Topic: Telehealth
Gives clinicians mobile access to data they currently access through shared computers on wheeled carts. Extends elements of the VA electronic health record to mobile devices that supply care providers with lab data, medications, allergies, appointments, problem lists, integrated clinical schedules, and secure messaging.
TBI Toolbox
Awardee: MedRed
Pilot Location: McGuire VA Medical Center (Richmond, Virginia)
Topic: Polytrauma
Facilitates data sharing between VA clinicians and with partners at DOD for TBI patients. The “TBI Toolbox” standardizes data, provides treatment recommendations, and tracks and analyzes patient outcomes in the evolving field of TBI care and rehabilitation.
Cardiology Communication System
Awardee: mVisum
Pilot Location: Washington, DC VA Medical Center
Topic: Telehealth
Transmits patient cardiologic data to clinicians’ mobile devices, enabling providers to review, share, and respond to the information wirelessly. Exchanges information asynchronously, both within the same facility and, for the first time, between different VA facilities.
