VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System Named One of 19 National VA Research Centers of Innovation
Ann Arbor, Michigan (PRWEB) November 16, 2013 -- VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System’s Center for Clinical Management Research (CCMR) has been named one of 19 new VA Centers of Innovation (COINs), launched in October by VA’s Office of Research and Development (VA Research). The purpose of a VA COIN is to foster more timely and relevant research to address the needs of key stakeholders, including patients and providers, as well as the leaders and managers of healthcare systems. This unique approach to research requires effective partnerships with these stakeholders to ensure the research addresses the most critical questions and has the greatest possible impact on healthcare practices, VHA policies, and most importantly, healthcare quality and outcomes for Veterans.
“We are very excited to transition to a Center of Innovation,” says Eve A. Kerr, M.D., M.P.H., VA CCMR Director and University of Michigan Professor of Internal Medicine. “With this designation, VA Health Services Research and Development has recognized CCMR and its researchers for their exceptional track record of conducting research that makes a difference in the lives of Veterans. As a COIN, we will continue to seek innovative solutions to common and costly clinical management challenges facing our nation’s Veterans.”
Throughout its nearly 90-year history, the role of VA Research within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has enabled investigators - many of whom are also clinicians - to interact directly with patients in identifying new areas of study and assessing new therapies and treatments. By partnering with VA operational areas (e.g., mental health operations, patient-centered care and cultural transformation, patient safety, primary care, quality improvement, telehealth), VA is taking research innovation and internal collaboration to new levels.
“Engaging our partners at the beginning of the research process is the best way to ensure that we’re asking the right questions and that we’re thinking ahead about how our research will be used to improve care,” said David Atkins, M.D., Director, Health Services Research and Development (HSR&D), which oversees COIN.
Each COIN includes one or more focused areas of research that address questions of significance to VHA clinical and operational partners. The VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System’s COIN focuses on developing and promoting Veteran-centered and personalized decision-support tools and performance measures that increase appropriateness of care; developing, implementing, and evaluating systems-based approaches to improve safety and outcomes for our most vulnerable, high-risk, and complex patients; and using innovative approaches to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of patient self-management and treatment engagement.
“Our mission is to honor America’s Veterans by providing exceptional healthcare that improves their health and well-being. The VA Center for Clinical Management and Research consistently produces high-caliber research that improves Veterans’ lives,” said Robert P. McDivitt, Director, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System.
The VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System’s COIN clinical and operational partners are the Veterans Integrated Service Network 11, the National Center for Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the Offices of Mental Health Services, the Office of Mental Health Operations, the Primary Care Program Office, Pain Management, the National Program for Oncology, the National Center for Patient Safety and the Office of Clinical Analytics and Reporting. Additionally, the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System Center for Clinical Management Research is the largest public partner of the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The Center’s investigators are also faculty at the University of Michigan Medical School, the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the University of Michigan Nursing School.
For more information on VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System’s COIN, the Center for Clinical Management Research, see http://www.annarbor.hsrd.research.va.gov/, and for an overview of the COIN program, see http://www.hsrd.research.va.gov/centers/.
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Derek Atkinson, Veterans Health Administration, http://www.annarbor.va.gov, +1 (734) 845-5043, [email protected]
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