VA Innovations

Innovation is not a “nice to have.” It is a critical aspect of VA’s ability to continue to modernize and evolve to best serve Veterans.

This new “paper-extraction” process ensures that when a claim is filed, the Veteran’s electronic record is already available in VA’s computer systems, reducing processing time for benefit claims from Veterans and their survivors.

Diffusion of Excellence Initiative empowers employees to share innovations and drive a supportive culture of continuous improvement.

VA placed 17th in Reuters’ list of the “Top 25 Global Innovators – Government,” published by the news agency in March 2017. The list includes government bodies from the United States and 10 other countries.

3D printers create objects from digital designs by laying down extremely thin layers of material one at a time building a three-dimensional object. These printers can create unique parts customized for each Veteran.

One of the incredible things about working at a VA facility is seeing the incredible progress that our Veterans make as they recover from various illnesses and injuries.

Amarillo VA Medical Center became the first VA medical center to combine solar power and thermal storage technologies to generate energy and export excess energy.

Brain Trust 2017 will dive deeper into the areas of collaborative research as well as technological and sports innovations. The event will boldly endeavor to identify critical brain health solutions in the areas of prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and the reintegration of individuals stricken with, and affected by, the effects of TBI and other kinds of head trauma.

VA's Veterans Health Administration (VHA) leaders have named 13 "gold status" practices following a competition last November.

During a visit to the late night talk show, Vice President Joe Biden highlighted the strategic partnerships efforts by the VA, the largest hospital system in the world, to work with private entities to expand the knowledge base around cancer.

The VA Center for Innovation launched the VA Innovators Network program to create a culture of innovation at VA and provide a safe space for VA employees to join forces with partners in the community to better serve Veterans and their families.

The nation’s first hadron therapy center at VA's Palo Alto facility will serve Veteran and non-Veteran cancer patients who could benefit from particle therapy using proton or heavy ion beams.