EP 23 - VA's Use of Innovation to Improve Healthcare of Veterans featuring VHA Office of Healthcare, Innovation and Learning

In this episode of “The CX Tipping Point” Podcast, Martha Dorris spoke to Dr. Anne Bailey, Director of Clinical Tech Innovation for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Innovation Ecosystem (IE) and the Immersive Tech Lead for the Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning (OHIL) at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We also spoke to Caitlin Rawlins, Innovation Specialist for the Western North Carolina VA Health Care System within the VA’s Office of Healthcare, Innovation and Learning (OHIL).

As the Immersive Tech Lead, Dr. Anne Lord Bailey expertly works across the Immersive Tech growth lane to encourage VHA employees to think outside of the box and strengthen their innovation muscle around immersive technologies at VHA. VHA, as many other large organizations, can oftentimes be siloed, with multiple people unknowingly working to solve the same problem.

The Immersive Tech team works collaboratively to simulate, scale, and sustain immersive technology innovation at VHA with the goal of improving the lives of employees and Veterans. As immersive technology is implemented across VHA, the data on Veteran benefits speak for themselves. Dr. Bailey and Caitlin Rawlins shared the experiences and successes of using immersive technologies and how using XR as a distraction tool helps to decrease pain, stress and anxiety, boredom and restless behaviors while also aiding relaxation. For Veterans suffering from acute and chronic pain, 61% saw a drop in pain intensity. One hundred percent of Veterans using XR to aid with restless behaviors felt a decrease in restlessness, and 67% of those Veterans also exhibited an increase in calm and cooperative behavior.

They shared their recommendations for creating an innovative culture to bring new ways of thinking into any organization.

Dr. Anne Bailey and Caitlin Rawlins are 2022 Service to the Citizen Award winners!

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Resources Mentioned:

• Citizen Services Newsletter