VA staff helping shape COVID-19 treatment guidelines

VA health care staff are helping shape COVID-19 treatment guidelines. Both public and private medical teams across the country and around the world are benefitting from the guidelines.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel. More than 40 medical professionals from federal agencies, health care and academic organizations, along with professional societies, make up the panel.

VHA is one of the government agencies on the panel. Representing the agency are:

• Roger Bedimo, MD, VA North Texas Health Care System
• Pam Belperio, PharmD, Population Health Services
• Joseph Francis, MD, Chief, Improvement and Analytics Office
• Phyllis Tien, MD, San Francisco VA Health Care System

Panel provides COVID-19 recommendations and guidance

To develop treatment guidelines, the panel meets regularly to update the guidelines as new data and information become available.

The panel reviews and summarizes the clinically relevant information and scientific literature available. Then, based on this clinical evidence, it provides specific recommendations and guidance for treatment.

More information about the NIH Coronavirus Disease 2019 Treatment Guidelines and the NIH treatment guidelines panel is available on the NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines website.

To learn more about VA efforts to treat Veterans with this disease, visit VA COVID-19 Care.  Additional information is available at: https://www.publichealth.va.gov/n-coronavirus/index.asp.

Brady Bautch is a public affairs specialist for VHA’s Population Health Services.