SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Data-Driven Support for Hospital Medicine: Launch of the Veterans Health Administration Hospital Medicine Analytics Team

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The document describes the launch of the Veterans Health Administration Hospital Medicine Analytics Team (HMAT), a new multidisciplinary group designed to support hospital medicine leaders and frontline clinicians with data, evaluation, and research across the VHA’s 119 medical hospitals. HMAT is funded by the Office of Rural Health in partnership with the Hospital Medicine Program Office and includes health services researchers, epidemiologists, implementation scientists, data scientists, and practicing hospitalists from seven VHA sites.<br /><br />HMAT operates within the VHA Learning Health System and has two main cores. The Evaluations Core plans and rigorously assesses enterprise-wide quality improvement efforts, including a national tele-hospitalist program, improved care transitions for rural VA hospitals, and implementation of evidence-based alcohol withdrawal treatment protocols. The Data Core harmonizes VHA and hospital-specific data to enable detailed analysis of hospitalization patterns and outcomes, and is building a Hospital Medicine Facility Tracker and related data briefs.<br /><br />The team has already identified important system characteristics, such as the majority of VHA medical hospitals being high-complexity facilities, many serving large rural Veteran populations, and a notable share being low-volume hospitals. HMAT also supports partnered-research initiatives by funding investigator-led projects, including studies on sex-based differences in rural admissions and rural-urban changes in admission trends after the VA MISSION Act.<br /><br />Overall, HMAT is positioned to improve the quality, safety, and value of inpatient care in the VHA. Future plans include economic evaluations, expansion of partnered research, and creation of an innovation and implementation lab to spread findings and improve hospital-based care.

Asset Subtitle

Joel C. Boggan

Meta Tag

Author List Charles M. Wray, Elizabeth A. Schackmann, Jacqueline M. Ferguson, Joel C. Boggan, Kirstin M. Piazza, Robert Burke

Category Innovations

Concept VHA Hospital Medicine Analytics Team

Concept Evaluations Core

Concept Data Core

Concept Quality Improvement

Concept Patient Safety

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Durham VA Health Care System

Presenting Author Joel C. Boggan

Track Quality Improvement

Keywords

Veterans Health Administration

Hospital Medicine Analytics Team

VHA hospitals

quality improvement

tele-hospitalist program

rural Veterans

data harmonization

hospitalization outcomes

implementation science

Learning Health System

VHA Hospital Medicine Analytics Team

Evaluations Core

Data Core

Quality Improvement

Patient Safety