VA: Innovative Patient-Centered Model

VA Office Developing Innovative Patient-Centered Model of Care for Veterans

WASHINGTON - January 19, 2011 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is creating a new office to develop personal, patient-centered models of care for Veterans who receive health care services at VA’s more than 1,000 points of care across the Nation.

“VA has become one of the Nation’s leaders in quality health care and is increasingly cited as the standard to emulate,” said VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert A. Petzel. “However, we must always continue to find ways to deliver more with our systems to the incredible patients we are honored to serve. We need to be data-driven, providing the treatments and therapies with the best clinical evidence, and we need to be patient-centered, never losing sight that we have been given the noble mission to care for our Nation’s Veterans, families and survivors.”

The new VA Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation began operations on Jan. 17 and is based in Arlington, Va.

The office’s director, Dr. Tracy Williams Gaudet, comes to VA from Duke University Medical Center where she has served as the executive director of Duke Integrated Medicine since 2001. Dr. Gaudet received her Bachelor of Arts and medical degrees from Duke University.

"The VA’s vision and commitment to cultural transformation comes at a pivotal moment for health care in this country, and I am deeply honored to be joining VA in this important work,” said Dr. Gaudet. “The Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation will be a living, learning organization in which we will discover and demonstrate new models of care, analyze the results, and then create strategies that allow for their translation and implementation across the VA. VA will continue to be a national leader in innovation, and, in this way, we will provide the future of high-quality health care to our Veterans.”

The VA Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation will have four regional implementation teams at select VA medical centers across the country: Birmingham, Ala; East Orange, N.J.; Dallas; and Los Angeles.

Each VA medical center was selected for excellence already demonstrated in producing cultures of patient-centered care based on established criteria. These regional teams, comprised of patient-centered care consultants, will be responsible for facilitating the culture change for patient-centered care at all VA facilities.

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