VA hosts health care leaders for roundtable on community care

Throughout its history, VA has partnered with individuals and institutions at the forefront of health care developments. This practice of coming together to identify positive trends and share lessons learned has helped VA and industry drive innovation toward more positive health outcomes. Keeping up this tradition of partnership, VA welcomed leaders from the health care industry to a roundtable discussion on innovations and trends in care coordination.

Care coordination takes into account a patient’s needs and preferences and organizes that care among everyone involved (providers, caregivers, nurses, social workers, etc.), enabling seamless communication: all working on behalf of our Veterans. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, “Well-designed, targeted care coordination that is delivered to the right people can improve outcomes for everyone: patients, providers, and payers.” Care coordination is key for Veterans as VA partners with community providers through a number of programs such as the Veterans Choice Program and partnerships with academic affiliates. For VA, care coordination is the critical two-way communication bridge that helps make sure information about the Veteran’s care is properly shared between VA and community providers.

As the department works to transform VA’s Community Care program, a team of experts from across VA has rolled up their sleeves and gotten to work on improving VA’s care coordination capabilities. Implementing comprehensive care coordination is not an easy task for any health care system, which is why VA brought together leaders on the subject for the first VA Care Coordination Roundtable.

The first roundtable was attended by a number chief executive officers (CEOs) and chief medical officers (CMOs) representing best-in-class health care organizations including health plans, social service organizations, public health groups and some of the nation’s largest health providers. The group shared lessons learned and best practices from their organizations’ experiences with care coordination. VA leaders learned an incredible amount over the course of the roundtable and are eager to apply this new knowledge to enhance the community care experience for our nation’s Veterans.

Dr. Ram Raju, president and CEO of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation was one of the leaders in attendance and expressed his enthusiasm for care coordination.

“[VA] is on the right track in embarking on its own care coordination initiative. Here in New York City, NYC Health and Hospitals is building robust care coordination across our extensive system by applying the most advanced care management coordination techniques and using the latest technology to integrate with New York State’s Delivery System Reform Incentive Program. We view these steps as essential to improving health outcomes, lowering costs, and transforming healthcare delivery in order to build healthier communities across New York City. And we would be glad to partner with the VA, by lending our care coordination expertise to better serve our Veterans,” Raju stated.

VA deeply appreciates these incredible leaders taking time out of their busy schedules to collaborate with us. We are greatly looking forward to keeping up the conversation as we work to improve care coordination to make sure Veterans receive the best care available.