VA Healthcare-VISN 4
Best Practices - VISN 4 Results
Best Practices - VISN 4 Results
Ending Veteran Homelessness
VA is serving more Veterans than ever before with specialized services for Veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Since 2010, more than 365,000 Veterans and their family members have been permanently housed, rapidly rehoused, or prevented from falling into homelessness as a result of VA's homeless continuum of services and targeted community resources.
VA has divided the most important needs of homeless Veterans, or at-risk Veterans, into four categories: safe housing; opportunities to return to employment; health care; and mental health services. By addressing these needs, VA aims to end Veteran homelessness.
Significant progress has been made thanks to the collaboration of VA, other governmental organizations, and more partners (such as Veterans service organizations).
Twenty nine communities and two states have confirmed and publicly announced that they have effectively ended Veteran homelessness, serving as models for others across the nation.
The following four locations in VISN 4 have met the federal criteria to declare an end to Veteran homelessness:
- October 2015 – Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Lebanon VAMC)
- December 2015 – City of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania (Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VAMC)
- February 2016 – Berks County, Pennsylvania (Lebanon VAMC)
- November 2016 – State of Delaware (Wilmington VAMC)
To declare the end of Veteran homelessness communities must:
- Be able to identify all the homeless Veterans in the area,
- Ensure resources are in place for future homeless Veterans,
- Be able to swiftly offer time-sensitive services such as emergency and transitional housing, and
- Ensure that an episode of homelessness is "rare, brief, and non-reoccurring."
When Delaware declared the end of Veteran homelessness this fall, Keith W. Harris, Ph.D., acting executive director of VHA's homeless programs stated, "By building partnerships, closing gaps, collaborating and working together as a community, Wilmington VAMC has put the pieces together to completely change how the State of Delaware responds to the factors that cause Veterans to fall into homelessness."
A new and beneficial tool to aid this effort was created this year by Erie VA Medical Center and VISN 4's data team. The Homeless Screening Data Alert was selected as a semifinalist in a national best practice competition initiated by the Veterans Health Administration's Under Secretary.
A Homeless Veteran Clinical Reminder was created in 2013 to help identify Veterans who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. With this new alert, homeless care teams are now automatically notified when a Veteran screens positive for homelessness. Now implemented throughout the entire VISN, this alert has helped to dramatically improve response times, and Veterans who screen positive for homelessness typically receive follow-up from their VA's homeless care team within one day or less.
VA Mobile
Because mobile health is emerging as an essential element of health care, VA is dedicated to providing the most up-to-date technologies to enhance patient experiences and expand clinical care beyond the traditional office visit. VA Mobile is developing applications, or "apps," for both Veterans and VA care teams, offering safe and secure mobile access to patient data, and providing more opportunities for Veterans to be active participants in their health care.
The cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-i) app assists users with improving their sleep habits. MOVE! Coach is a weight loss app for Veterans, service members, their families, and others who want to lose weight. VA's Mindfulness Coach App has nine exercises from The National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that you can follow to "pay attention on purpose" and cope with stress. Mindfulness Coach has been available since January 2014, and has been downloaded more than 21,000 times since its release.
A new app being incrementally rolled out nationwide will allow Veterans enrolled for VA care to directly schedule or request primary care appointments and request mental health appointments. With the Veteran Appointment Request App (also known as VAR), Veteran patients can also view appointment details, track the status of appointment requests, send messages about requested appointments, get notifications about appointments, and cancel most appointments.
Some apps, including VAR, require Veterans to obtain their DS logon (directions can be found here: mobile.va.gov/dslogon).
Visit mobile.va.gov/appstore for the latest on newly released and coming soon apps.
Facility Awards
Six VISN 4 medical centers (Altoona, Butler, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre, and Wilmington) earned a Gold Cornerstone Recognition Award. VA's Patient Safety Cornerstone Recognition Award recognizes VA medical centers who meet standards established by the VA National Center for Patient Safety. Patient safety managers and their hospital-based patient safety programs are reviewed based on staff-reported adverse events and close calls, which represent the foundation of a robust and effective patient safety program. The national program is intended to inspire the culture of open communication in reporting and identifying system issues related to patient safety.
Five VISN 4 facilities (Altoona, Erie, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Wilmington) received awards from Practice GreenHealth, the Nation's leading health care community dedicated to transforming health care worldwide to reduce the environmental footprint of the industry. Practice GreenHealth aims to help health care providers be a community anchor for sustainability and serve as a leader in the global movement for environmental health and justice.
The James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center in Altoona was recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its electronics recycling efforts through the Federal Green Challenge.
VA Butler Healthcare received the 2016 VA2K Spirit Award from the Veterans Health Administration's Employee Health and Wellbeing Office.
Lebanon VA Medical Center and VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System were both named a Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
The Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia received a Notable Achievement in Electrical Engineering award from the Philadelphia Chapter of Pennsylvania's Society of Professional Engineers.
VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System received two Get With The Guidelines® awards from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
By the Numbers
A study of the post-operative outcomes in the Veterans Health Administration shows that rates of complications and mortality following complications, known as failure to rescue, improved significantly within VA during the last 15 years. The study was carried out by researchers at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine and VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, and published in JAMA Surgery.
| FY 2014 | FY 2015 | FY 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veterans served in VISN 4 homeless programs | 15,575 | 16,478 | 16,724 |
| Veterans housed by VISN 4 homeless programs | 2,568 | 3,502 | 3,259 |
