VA HSR&D’s Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI)

April 3, 2020

QUERI was created in 1998 to help translate research into real-world practice. Its current mission is to:

• Implement effective practices rapidly into routine practice;
• Conduct vigorous evaluations in partnership with VA operations to help inform VA policies and programs; and
• Promote the application of implementation science into real-world practice.

The Numbers

Currently, QUERI investigators at 15 National Programs, 26 Partnered Evaluation Initiatives,7 VISN Start-up Projects, 5 Training Hubs, and 2 Resource Centers are working to implement more than 70 evidence-based practices across the VA healthcare network that will impact more than 200,000 Veterans. QUERI also is training more than 3,500 VA staff in order to sustain innovative interventions. A few recent examples of QUERI’s impact on Veterans’ health and care include:

Complementary and Integrative Health Evaluation Center (CIHEC) Partnered Evaluation Initiative

• Results from a study conducted by CIHEC QUERI investigators shows that Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA) reduces pain. BFA was effective across a wide range of Veterans, with many having pre-existing chronic pain, or physical or psychological comorbid condi­tions. This is a critical finding as it begins to address the ques­tion of BFA’s effectiveness and provides preliminary evidence for another non-pharmacological intervention for chronic pain, as information about BFA’s effectiveness was identified by providers as a key barrier to broader implementation.

Enhancing Mental and Physical Health of Women through Engagement and Retention (EMPOWER) QUERI National Program

• Tailoring VA’s Diabetes Prevention Program to Women Veterans’ Needs is a quality improvement project conducted in VA Greater Los Angeles women’s health clinics, resulting in a 187% increase in the number of women aware of their pre-diabetes diagnosis. Women Veterans with prediabetes selected an in-person, peer-led, or online gender-specific dia­betes prevention program to address their risk behaviors and health conditions. Pre-implementation interviews revealed that women Veterans value having treatment options and preferred women-only groups. High demand for the program resulted in delivery to triple the number of Veterans originally planned.

Team-Based Behavioral Health QUERI National Program

• The Peers in PACT (PEER) project is evaluating the use of external facilitation to support the implementation of Peer Special­ists on VA Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) to support behavioral health in primary care. To date, 41 Peer Specialists involved in this project have delivered an approximate total of 13,750 encounters to 5,811 Veterans across 25 VA medical centers. Peer Specialists in this project also are supporting the Whole Health initiative as it rolls out in enrolled sites.

In addition, QUERI’s Partnered Evaluation Initiatives focus on topics of great importance to Veterans and the VA healthcare system, including Medication Treatment for Opioid Use, Suicide Prevention, Enhancing Veterans’ Access to Care through Telehealth, and Women’s Health.