Innovators Network Spark-Seed-Spread Investment Program
What is Spark-Seed-Spread?
The goal of Spark-Seed-Spread is to identify and accelerate employee-inspired innovations to improve health care experiences for Veterans, families, caregivers, and employees. The Spark-Seed-Spread Program’s three levels of investment are based on the maturity of the employee’s innovative solution:
- Spark: Projects in the ideation stage. Supports the development of an initial prototype.
- Seed: Projects in early-stage development. Supports the implementation of a pilot to verify feasibility of the initial prototype.
- Spread: Projects in the feasibility confirmation stage. Supports the implementation of multi-site pilots to support the solution's value and feasibility while taking different variables into account.
VEText
VEText is an interactive mobile solution to remind Veterans of upcoming appointments via
text messaging. Since it’s launch in 2018, 71 million text messages have been sent and
over 1 million appointments were made available for other Veterans. VEText originated at
the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System.
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PRIDE
PRIDE is a 10-week health education program that focuses on reducing health care
disparities. Group facilitators follow a session-by-session manual with corresponding
Veteran handouts on each topic. The manual includes information about how to access
relevant services within VHA. During sessions, participants focus on improving their
overall wellness, increasing social connection and empowering Veterans to engage in
services related to their personal health care needs. Veterans who have attended the
program are linked to a reduced likelihood of attempting suicide in the future, as well
as reduced anxiety and concern about not being accepted. These same Veterans also have
an increased feeling of safety and protection through engagement in the community and
certainty in their own identity. The PRIDE Program began at the Hampton and Tuscaloosa
VA Medical Centers and is currently active at 14 medical centers across the country.
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Veterans Rideshare Program
The Veterans Rideshare Program began at the VA Boston Healthcare System and is now live
at over 60 sites throughout the country. Rideshare was created to support homeless
Veterans by helping them get to job interviews and find housing opportunities. As
housing costs rise in inner cities rise, Veterans are increasingly housed outside the
city where public transportation is less accessible, making it a constant challenge for
these Veterans to search for employment or attend medical appointments. “I don’t know
what I would have done if the VA and Uber/Lyft didn’t offer me these rides, I have no
one who can drive me,” said Veteran Robert Bukirch of Waltham, MA, who is undergoing a
series of radiation treatments that require him to get therapy daily. “I love the VA,
and I love my country, this means so much to me. You guys literally saved my life, thank
you.”
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Automated Email Notification System (AENS)
The Automatic Email Notification System (AENS) is a push system for consult management
that allows users to access their priority consult data through an automated
email-system that delivers a link direct to data specific to each user. The system is
set up by clinical stop code so that only users responsible for a specific stop code
receive an email notifications and only when consults fall outside the national
timeframes. AENS originated from the Lexington VA Medical Center and is now available at
100 sites throughout the VA health care system.