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Case Studies in Telehealth Adoption
January 2013
The Veterans Health Administration:
Taking Home Telehealth Services to
Scale Nationally
Andrew Broderick
The mission of The Commonwealth ABSTRACT: Since the 1990s, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has used infor-
Fund is to promote a high performance mation and communications technologies to provide high-quality, coordinated, and com-
health care system. The Fund carries prehensive primary and specialist care services to its veteran population. Within the VHA,
out this mandate by supporting
independent research on health care the Office of Telehealth Services offers veterans a program called Care Coordination/
issues and making grants to improve Home Telehealth (CCHT) to provide routine noninstitutional care and targeted care man-
health care practice and policy. Support agement and case management services to veterans with diabetes, congestive heart fail-
for this research was provided by ure, hypertension, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other conditions. The program uses
The Commonwealth Fund. The views remote monitoring devices in veterans’ homes to communicate health status and to cap-
presented here are those of the author ture and transmit biometric data that are monitored remotely by care coordinators. CCHT
and not necessarily those of The
Commonwealth Fund or its directors, has shown promising results: fewer bed days of care, reduced hospital admissions, and
oficers, or staff. high rates of patient satisfaction. This issue brief highlights factors critical to the VHA’s
success—like the organization’s leadership, culture, and existing information technology
infrastructure—as well as opportunities and challenges.
For more information about this study,
please contact:
Andrew Broderick, M.A., M.B.A.
Codirector, Center for Innovation OVERVIEW
and Technology in Public Health Since the 1990s, information and communications technologies—including tele-
Public Health Institute
abroderick@phi.org health—have been at the core of the Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA’s)
successful system-level transformation toward providing continuous, coordinated,
and comprehensive primary and specialist care services. The VHA’s leadership
and culture; underlying health information technology infrastructure; and strong
To learn more about new publications commitment to standardized work processes, policies, and training have all con-
when they become available, visit the tributed to the home telehealth program’s success in meeting the chronic care
Fund's website and register to receive
Fund email alerts. needs of a population of aging veterans and reducing their use of institutional
Commonwealth Fund pub. 1657 care and its associated costs. The home teleheath model also encourages patient
Vol. 4 activation, self-management, and helps in the early detection of complications.
