# Telehealth for Acute Care in VA

> **NIH VA I01** · VETERANS ADMIN PALO ALTO HEALTH CARE SYS · 2020 · —

## Abstract

Project goals: In partnership with VA's National Emergency Medicine Program Office (EM-PO) and the VA
Telehealth/Office of Connected Care, we propose to design, implement, and test innovative virtual solutions to
rapidly triage and meet urgent care (UC) needs of Veterans. Using innovative solutions developed by public-
private partnerships, our proposed program, the Virtual Urgent Care Network (VUCN), will seek to provide on-
demand evaluation and treatment of unscheduled, urgent conditions. Our goal is to make health care
accessible to those living in rural communities and make services more readily available for people with limited
mobility, time, or transportation options. The objectives of this Phase 1 proposal are to: (1) conduct an
environmental scan to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to providing virtual UC
services; (2) assess the feasibility, acceptability, and adoption of three specific virtual health strategies: e-visits,
self-service options, and novel spaces (e.g., Walmart); and (3) design a VUCN program and a corresponding
evaluation plan. Long-term Aim of Phase 2: If selected, we would use our Phase 1 plan to conduct a hybrid,
type II large-scale implementation evaluation. Additionally, we would support our partners, the EM-PO, in their
implementation of the VUCN. Specifically, our evaluation would seek to: (1) assess variation in implementation
across settings, clinicians, and patient subgroups; (2) determine implementation outcomes (i.e., feasibility,
fidelity, acceptability, and sustainability); (3) examine clinical outcomes (i.e., efficiency, safety, effectiveness,
timeliness, and utilization); and (4) understand patient, provider, and staff-level barriers and facilitators.
Innovation: The EM-PO is highly motivated to build on existing momentum and create a VUCN. The timing of
the MISSION Act implementation and launch of the VA's Accessing Telehealth through Local Area Station
(ATLAS) program have been instrumental in attracting new partners (VA Telehealth/Office of Connected Care
and Office of Community Care). VA Telehealth will partner with us to identify how we can modify/adopt existing
virtual solutions that are currently used in other sectors (i.e., primary care and mental health) to provide UC
triage, evaluation, or treatment. As the ATLAS program continues to expand to include American Legion posts
and Walmart spaces, we have the unique opportunity to be the first to test and assess feasibility and
acceptability of incorporating this innovative strategy in our VUCN. Impact: Virtual UC services, from e-visits to
use of novel spaces, can substantially improve timely access to UC services for the 3.2 million rural Veterans
who live over an hour away from a VA ED or UC center. Since the UC benefit under the MISSION Act became
available in June 2019, the Office of Community Care estimates there have already been 90,000 visits to non-
VA UC centers. This estimate is predicted to rise dramatica...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10069217
- **Project number:** 1I01HX003171-01
- **Recipient organization:** VETERANS ADMIN PALO ALTO HEALTH CARE SYS
- **Principal Investigator:** Anita A Vashi
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-10-01 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10069217

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10069217, Telehealth for Acute Care in VA (1I01HX003171-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10069217. Licensed CC0.

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