b'Industry Steps Up to Improve Veterans Access to CareST. LOUISThe central focus of the VA over the past fiveprioritiesandtogethercreatebig,bold,impactful years has been improving veteran access to care. Whetherpartnerships around those missions, explained Deborah thatmeansenablingveteranstoreceivecarethroughLafer Scher, executive adviser to the secretary and leader communityprograms,expandingtelehealthservicestoof the Center for Strategic Partnerships. reach veterans in rural areas or moving care delivery toThose priorities have included reaching rural veterans more convenient outpatient centers, the department hasand establishing a national telehealth system, two projects taken steps with community and industry partners to makethat industry and the VA have brought to fruition in record it as easy as possible for veterans to receive the care theytime. need when and where they want it.When the department sought to cost-effectively expand Infact,theVAestablishedanofficespecificallytoaccess to care for the 33% of veterans in VA care who live facilitate public/private sector relationships in 2018. Thein rural communities, it realized that many lived in areas Secretarys Center for Strategic Partnerships collaboratesthat lacked broadband access. Others could not afford data withindustryandnon-profitorganizationstobuildplans to connect to the VA through telehealth services. programs together that further the VA Secretarys highestWithin months, partnerships developed with most major priority initiatives to significantly improve veterans lives,carriers enabled veterans to use the VAs telehealth app according to the agency. at no charge and without using their personal data plans. The goal is to find the sweet spot between the secretarysIn researching how to expand the VAs rural footprint most important priorities and industrys most importantwithoutconstructingnewfacilities,theVAdiscovered that90%ofveteranslivedwithin10miles of a Walmart, Scher noted. Discussions with theretailerledtocreationofroomswhere veterans can use the stores broadband service to connect to their providers via telehealth. To reach more small towns in rural America, Philipssteppeduptoprovidetelehealth equipment to outfit Veterans of Foreign Wars andAmericanLegionpostsfortelehealth in2019.Thisyear,thecompanypartnered withtheVAtoexpandthetelecriticalcare (eICU) program, providing remote access to a centralized team of critical care specialists from any VA ICU bed.Distributing Care to CBOCsThesupportofindustrypartnersextendsto helpingindividualVAMCsremovebarriers to care, as well. For instance, when veterans neededexpandedaccesstotreatmentfor alcoholusedisorder,theSt.LouisVAMC turned to its industry contacts for help, quickly training a broader pool of providers.Recognizingthatalcoholusedisorder affects a significant percentage of the veteran populationwithnegativeimpactonhealth and social well-being, the St. Louis VAMC A veteran at the Carl T. Hayden Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ,increaseditsfocusonalcoholusedisorder receives lung cancer screening through the VA Partnership to Increase Access to Lung Screening (VA-PALS), which is a collaboration with industry. Photo from Nov. 12,treatment in 2019. It quickly became apparent 2020, VAntage Point blog that long trips to the two main VA hospitals 4 THE VALUE OF THE PARTNERSHIP: Industry and the Federal Customer Working Together'