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Health Services Research & Development

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OCC Funded Projects

Virtual Care Consortium of Research (VC CORE) logo

VA’s Office of Connected Care (OCC) is responsible for the health care system’s digital health strategy and focuses on improving care through technology that engages Veterans and VA care team members outside of traditional encounters. The Office comprises multiple programs, including VA Telehealth Services, VA Mobile, and My HealtheVet.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has driven rapid adoption of many technologies in the OCC portfolio, implementation challenges are still pervasive, and evidence for their effectiveness in specific contexts of care and with specific subsets of the Veteran population is still needed. Each year, OCC supports rapid quality improvement (QI) and evaluation projects that align with their priorities and can help advance their mission.

Current and past OCC RFA funded projects include:

Current Projects

Title

PI(s)

OCC Liaisons

Initial Year

A comparison of the Virtual Care Manager PGHD System to the GTS Virtual Health Platform for Veterans with Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders (SCI/D)

Lisa Burkhart

Terry Newton; Cathy Buck

FY23

Measuring Physical Function With Video Telehealth Technology

Helen Hoenig

Leonie Heyworth; Sara DeRycke

FY23

A Mobile Virtual Health Resource Center-Plus Pilot to Address Multiple Digital Access Barriers Among Rural Veterans

Ashok Reddy & Leah Marcotte

Nancy Wilck; Christy Armstrong

FY23

Improving adherence to colorectal cancer screening and abnormal fecal immunochemical test follow up using a novel Annie application across VISN 2

Aasma Shaukat

Nancy Wilck

FY23

Examining disparities in the access to and engagement of virtual T2DM care among Black and Hispanic Veterans

Rebecca Kinney

Leonie Heyworth; Cathy Cruise

FY23

Finding the Right Mix: Establishing the Optimal Ratio of Virtual to In-Person Care Among Veterans with Diabetes

Charlie Wray & Jacqueline Ferguson

Leonie Heyworth; Maia Carter

FY23

Feasibility and acceptability of using consumer wearables in a self-monitoring program for promoting patient activation and engagement among Veterans prescribed non-PAP therapy for obstructive sleep apnea

Constance Fung, Garrett Ash, & Selene Mak

Terry Newton; Sara Derycke

FY23

Evaluating and Improving Access to Virtual Anesthesia Care: Identifying Veterans preferences for preprocedural evaluation and optimization, and Providers perceptions about Value

Sesh Mudumbai, Karthik Raghunathan, Atilio Barbeito

Leonie Heyworth

FY23

VVC Vitals Evaluation

Lynn Garvin

Leonie Heyworth

FY22

Virtual Diabetes Optimization Program (VDOP); A Multidisciplinary Remote Intervention for Veterans  with Uncontrolled Diabetes

Carlos Mendez, Jeff Whittle, & Jeffrey L Jackson

Nilesh Shah

FY22

Maximizing the Value of Sharing PGHD with HealthCare Providers in the Setting of Weight Management at the Veterans Administration

Melanie Jay, Anne Dembitzer, & Omar El-Shahawy

Nilesh Shah

FY22

The Use and Improvement of My VA Images for Amputee Rehabilitation Asynchronized Telehealth Care

Mary Matsumoto & Patricia Young

Sara Derycke

FY22

Understanding the Impacts of COVID-19 on Specialty Care Telehealth Uptake, sustainability, and downstream Outcomes

Megan Adams & Allison Lin

Leonie Heyworth, Sara Derycke, Pauline Anderson, Padraic McVeigh

FY21

>Development and implementation of Virtual Home-based cardiac rehabilitation in Older Veterans

Amit Shah & Linda Park 

Pauline Anderson, John Murphy, Patricia Young

FY21

Leveraging rapid COVID-driven telehealth expansion to optimize delivery of in-person and virtual services in VA primary care

Claudia Der-Martirosian & Lucinda Leung

Leonie Heyworth, Maia Carter

FY21

Super Users’ Best Practices for Coordinating Specialty Care: Creating A Culture for Proactive Integrated Use of Virtual Resources

Jolie Haun 

Rhonda Johnston, Sara Derycke

FY21

 

Past OCC RFA funded projects:

Past Projects

Title

PI(s)

OCC Liaisons

Initial Year

Tele Pre-Op Anesthesia Demonstration Project

Atilio Barbeito & Seshadri Mudumbai

Leonie Heyworth

FY21

Understanding and overcoming the digital divide in specialty care following the onset of COVID-19

Evan Carey

Leonie Heyworth, Emily Drucker

FY21

Virtual Shared Medical Appointments: Enhancing the Patient and Caregiver Experience

Sherry Ball 

Aaron Steele, Pauline Anderson

FY21

Partnering with Caregivers to Ensure Access to VA Video Connect Visits for Veterans with Complex Care Needs: A Mixed Methods Investigation

Megan Gately

Rhonda Johnston, Carla Anderson

FY21

Evaluation and Improvement of the SAIL Metric: Identifying and Mitigating Barriers to Virtual Care Among Veterans at High Risk for Suicide

Gala True 

Claire Marty, Kendra Weaver, Jessica Walker, Joseph Gutmann

FY21

Assessing changes in delivery and utilization of telehealth between VAMCs and State Veterans' Nursing Homes due to COVID-19 pandemic to inform future utilization, scalability, and adoption of telehealth modalities

Leah Haverhals

Leonie Heyworth, Lesly Roose, Valarie Delanko

FY21

Efficacy of tele-initiation of positive airway pressure in obstructive sleep apnea

Kathleen Sarmiento & Michelle Zeidler

Sara Derycke

FY21

Optimizing Telemedicine: Using Standardized Patients to Assess and Train Providers in Digital Communication and Use of Technology

Anne Dembitzer & Melanie Jay 

Rhonda Johnston

FY21

Assessing VA Health Disparities in Telehealth Use During the Coronavirus 2019 Pandemic

Taona Haderlein

Christina Armstrong, Shelby Smout, Leslyann Roose, Nancy Wilck

FY20

Broadband Access as a Social Determinant of Health: The Association of Broadband Access with Changes in Use of Primary Care and Mental Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Amy O’Shea

Leonie Heyworth, Leslyann Roose

FY20

Improving care coordination through the use of home pulse oximeters for COVID-19 patients

Chelsea Leonard

Derek Juang, Ryan Schulteis, John Murphy

FY20

Patient Use Characteristics of VA Telehealth Services and Impact on Quality of Care during COVID-19

Paul Krebs, Melanie Jay, & Omar El Shahawy

Leonie Heyworth, Whitney Cone

FY20

A Mixed-Methods Investigation of High and Low Adoption of VA Video Connect (VVC) for Mental Healthcare During COVID-19

Ursula Myers

Christina Armstrong, Whitney Cone, John Murphy

FY20

Tele-rehabilitation for Medically Complex Veterans During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Feasibility Study and Program Evaluation

Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley

Brian Vetter, Deyne Bentt, Lesli Culver, John Murphy

FY20


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