How the Veterans Health Administration is setting standards in Virtual Health Services

The Veterans Administration is a federal agency that provides benefits and services for veterans and their families. They have been pioneers in the area of healthcare innovation, particularly in the delivery of virtual health services.

With an unwavering commitment to serving U.S. Veterans, the VA breaks ground in virtual care for Veterans to expand access to healthcare and improve patient outcomes.

According to a source, virtual health services have been delivered to more than 2.4 million veterans, representing more than 40% of those who have served. These Veterans received more than 11.6 million telehealth appointments, including 9.4 million video appointments.

There is a rapid adoption of virtual health services in veteran healthcare and major advances in the Veterans Health Administration.

In this blog post, we have shared how the Veterans Health Administration is setting high standards in virtual health services through innovative solutions that improve care delivery to veterans, increasing access while maintaining high-quality healthcare outcomes.

Veterans Health Administration and Its Role in Healthcare Innovation

The Veteran Health Administration was initially established in the year 1930 as a federal administration. It is initially developed to provide benefits for veterans. Initially, it is named the U.S. Cabinet-Level of Department which is later then known as the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

This agency offers numerous items that include health care, benefits, and a host of other necessary services to U.S. veterans and their families. Three administrations provide health care:

• The National Cemetery Administration
• Veterans Health Administration
• The Veterans Benefits Administration.

VHA is uniquely positioned to drive innovation in health care, particularly in the area of virtual care. The VHA uses telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and digital technologies to improve access to and quality of healthcare for Veterans.

Its commitment to research, patient-centered care, and continuous improvement guarantees that VHA will remain at the forefront in transforming health care delivery for millions of Veterans.

VA Virtual Care’s Key Achievements (Highlights)

The Veterans Health Administration has made significant strides in virtual care, particularly:

• In 2023, VHA provided virtual care to more than 2.4 million Veterans and over 11.6 million telehealth appointments were conducted, including 9.4 million video consultations.
• VHA has implemented RPM technologies in the management of chronic conditions that have resulted in reductions in emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and nursing home admissions.
• The VHA has investigated PGHD applications to enhance provider decision-making and assist patient self-management.

Related: How Integration of Remote Patient Monitoring and Telehealth Benefits

Key questions addressed during the State-of-the-Art Conference

The VHA’s State-of-the-Art Conference on Virtual Care focused on four major things:

• Measuring Virtual Care Outcomes
• Selecting Appropriate Care Modalities
• Safety Implications
• Utilizing PGHD

1. What outcomes of VA virtual care should be measured?

• Assessing the effectiveness of virtual care in managing specific health conditions.
• Evaluating Veterans’ experiences and satisfaction with virtual care services.
• Monitoring changes in the use of in-person services due to virtual care adoption.
• Ensuring virtual care reduces disparities among diverse Veteran populations.

2. How to select appropriate care modalities?

• Considering individual comfort and familiarity with technology.
• Determining which conditions are appropriate for virtual management.
• Ensuring patients have access to necessary devices and internet connectivity.
• Equipping healthcare professionals with skills to deliver effective virtual care.

3. Safety implications of virtual care.

• Technical issues that may hinder effective patient-provider interactions.
• Challenges in conducting thorough assessments without physical examinations.
• Protecting sensitive health information transmitted through digital platforms.
• Ensuring timely interventions when virtual care is insufficient.

4. Benefits of Patient-Generated Health Data

• Continuous tracking of health metrics outside clinical settings.
• Tailoring treatment plans based on individual data.
• Encouraging active participation in health management.
• Potential for better health results through informed decision-making.

Related: 5 Ways Vozo Telehealth Makes Virtual Health Consultation Better

4 Ways to Advance VA Virtual Care

There are four ways to advance Veterans Affairs Virtual Care:

1. Standardized Outcome Measures

The implementation of standardized outcome measures is critical to the advancement of VA virtual care. It allows assessment of the success of virtual care services across a variety of patient populations and conditions. This will enable the VHA to compare the effectiveness of virtual care models objectively, ensuring the services are truly improving the outcomes for patients. 

Standardized measures allow for better comparisons between different care modalities, hence allowing the identification of the most efficient and impactful solutions.

2. Real-World Research

While clinical trials are invaluable, they leave out much of the tapestry of how virtual care functions. Real-world research is critical to understanding how virtual care performs in diverse environments and among a wide range of patients. With a focus on the lived experiences of Veterans, VHA can assemble data that reflects the unique challenges and advantages of virtual care. 

Such a research approach will allow an in-depth view into virtual care’s real-world effectiveness under real-world conditions, ensuring that it is practical, sustainable, and adaptable to the needs of the Veteran population.

3. Safety Concerns

Many of the patients may have complex medical needs. This may raise safety concerns as it is the primary concern regarding virtual care. Virtual Care has various risks which include technical failures, miscommunication, and diagnostic inaccuracies because of the lack of in-person. 

Addressing these safety concerns requires robust safeguards, such as thorough provider training on delivering care via telehealth platforms and developing clear protocols to manage technical issues. Additionally, strict privacy and security measures should be in place to protect patient data. 

Regular audits, risk assessments, and patient feedback will be crucial in identifying and addressing safety issues promptly. 

4. Integration of PGHD

The integration of PGHD into virtual care practices has the potential to improve the quality of care delivered to Veterans notably. 

That is because PGHD tends to comprise information that patients collect outside traditional clinical visits, perhaps health metrics from wearable devices or other self-reported data through an app. 

This allows virtual care to enable continuous surveillance by the provider, thereby viewing the state of health fully and allowing for timely, personalized intervention. 

For PGHD to be maximally useful, it requires precision and security, particularly as this data becomes more available in real-time. The VHA must create confidence in Veterans about sharing their health data securely by adhering to existing privacy and security standards.

Vozo Telehealth Solution for High-Quality Virtual Health Consultation

Telehealth offers significant benefits for both providers and patients. Leveraging the Vozo Telehealth and EHR Integration lets you create a more streamlined workflow for your healthcare practice. 

With a vast range of features, such as scheduling appointments, audio/video/text consultation, analytics & reporting, better access to care, etc, healthcare providers and patients can:

• Reach out to patients remotely, ensuring more flexibility around appointment times.
• Saves travel time for patients and makes it easier to fit appointments into busy schedules.
• Vozo Telehealth allows anonymity and ensures patients feel more comfortable opening up from the privacy of their home space rather than in-person therapist visits.
• This eliminates the transportation cost of getting to appointments.
• It also reduces overhead costs like rent and admin staff for therapists who can conduct remote sessions, and many insurance companies do cover teletherapy as well.
• Vozo Telehealth makes it easy to maintain regular appointments, especially for patients who travel frequently or move locations.
• Therapists and patients can connect through the telehealth platform from anywhere.

The Vozo Telehealth solution enables providers to reduce burdens and focus more on better patient outcomes remotely.

Reach out to Vozo and utilize cutting-edge telehealth solutions for better convenient quality healthcare.