VHA Innovation Ecosystem
The VHA Innovation Ecosystem empowers frontline VHA employees and leverage the collective power of external partners from academia, industry, the non-profit community, and other government agencies, VHA Innovation Ecosystem (VHA IE) facilitates mission-driven, health care innovation through the identification and scaling of innovative solutions and promising practices across VHA.
OUR IMPACT
- $15M in cost avoidance
- Over 200 Veteran lives saved through Rapid Naloxone Initiative and Project HAPPEN
- 1,000,000 million unique Veterans impacted
- Invested in over 100 innovative solutions and promising practices from frontline employees through our Spark-Seed-Spread and Shark Tank initiatives
- Trained over 10,000 front line VA employees in innovation competencies
- Facilitated 175 replications of 16 promising practices at 79 unique facilities
Visit the VHA Innovation Ecosystem website to learn more.
HOW TO INNOVATE IN YOUR ORGANIZATION
1. EMBRACE POSSIBILITY - Pursue the "what if?" and push for VA to predict and create the future through innovation.2. DON'T GO AT IT ALONE - Deliver more, together through partnerships.
3. WALK THE WALK - Disrupt the status quo and take action.
As part of the VHA Office of Discovery, Education, and Affiliate Networks, the VHA Innovation Ecosystem leverages the collective power of innovation champions from across Department of Veterans Affairs, academia, and industry, fueled by four core portfolios.
Facilitates a culture of innovation through a network of 33 VA Medical Centers with embedded Innovation Specialists who are focused on empowering frontline VHA employees and their ideas and building the workforce of the future
Identifies, tests, and diffuses innovative, Promising Practices across VHA through a repeatable process for scaling innovation
Builds a collaborative innovation community with academic, industry, non-profit, and other government partners to co-develop innovative solutions that can meaningfully scale to impact Veteran care
Aims to foster collaboration between both internal and external partners and select, local VA Medical Centers to address VHA’s most pressing health care challenges.
