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Accelerating Veteran Care in the Sunshine Healthcare Network and Beyond

hackathon

By Roderick Cunningham, Public Affairs

Primary author: Dr. Indra Sandal. As July came to a close, so did a remarkable year-long journey to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in Veterans’ health care.

 

“A year-long cycle of innovation brings new solutions to transform Veteran care.”

At the heart of this effort was the Veterans Health Venture Studio—a first-of-its-kind initiative led and founded by Dr. Indra Sandal, Chief of Innovation at Tampa VA Medical Center. Developed in partnership with VISN 8, VHA Innovation Ecosystem, VA OI&T, Microsoft, and MIT Hacking Medicine, the Veterans Health Venture Studio is rapidly becoming a national model for scalable innovation.

Tampa VA and VISN 8 hosted the culminating event—the Accelerator Technology Showcase—July 30–31 at the USF Patel Center for Global Solutions, where seven finalist teams presented fully functional prototypes. These teams, selected from over 300 participants in the initial Hackathon, are now preparing to pilot their solutions in VA medical centers, VISNs, and program offices across the country.

Building People, Community, and Technology

The Veterans Health Venture Studio is a repeatable, scalable innovation engine built on three interconnected programs: the Hackathon, the Make-a-thon, and the Accelerator. Together, these stages form a pipeline that empowers frontline staff, forges public-private partnerships, and brings new technologies to life.

This year’s cycle engaged VA and non-VA participants from 28 states, including representation from 35 VA medical centers and program offices and 76 non-VA organizations such as academic institutions, technology companies, and Veteran Service Organizations. The program also brought together 53 mentors, 18 judges, and 24 Advisory Council members to guide and support the teams.

Over the past year, participants completed thousands of person-hours of technical training, ranging from artificial intelligence workshops to business modeling and pitch development. Microsoft played a key role, contributing over 125 hours of one-on-one mentorship and cloud computing resources using Azure, Power BI, and Power Apps.

From Concept to Pilot: Accelerator Teams
  

The Accelerator, the final stage of the Venture Studio, took place March - August 2025. It incorporated Faculty Working Group members, Microsoft AI experts, and an Advisory Council to help teams advance their prototypes. At the Showcase, seven teams demonstrated AI-powered solutions addressing critical challenges in Veteran care:

  • Mission: Readmission. Simplifies discharge instructions into personalized, accessible plans with interactive follow-ups to reduce hospital readmissions.
  • GuardianAssist. Uses AI-powered speech-to-text to help clinicians detect language that indicates suicide risk.
  • The Optimizers. Applies AI to streamline consult orders with automated summaries, evidence-based recommendations, and test orders.
  • VITAE. Transforms static suicide safety plans into engaging, personalized, and actionable digital tools.
  • HerStorAI. Integrates multiple data sources to deliver a longitudinal, gender-sensitive suicide risk score for female Veterans.
  • AI Reconciliation Rangers. Automates outpatient medication reconciliation, reducing errors and adverse drug events.

Each of these solutions was co-designed with frontline clinicians, Veterans, and technologists and will now transition to real-world pilot testing across the VA.

The Innovation Engine Isn’t Slowing Down

The Accelerator Showcase marked the conclusion of this cycle but not the end of the journey. The next Veterans Health Hackathon launches in just a few weeks, with over 400 participants expected from across the country. New challenges, teams, and opportunities are already on the horizon as the Veterans Health Venture Studio continues its mission to improve Veteran care through public-private collaboration.