Challenge
The mission of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Rural Health (ORH) is to improve the health and well-being of Veterans by increasing their access to care and services. For years, ORH has promoted and/or funded rural, Veteran-focused health care delivery programs and projects. Of the more than 600 VA efforts supported by ORH in any fiscal year, many represent innovative pilot programs modeled on previously identified Rural Promising Practices (RPPs) within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). RPPs are field tested innovative projects that meet ORH criteria demonstrating improved access to care for rural Veterans. However, a systematic, national approach to evaluating (and in some cases, implementing) these RPPs has not been fully developed with sound methodological rigor and input from health care and rural health Subject Matters Experts (SMEs) outside VHA and/or the private health sector. In our new era of increased accountability and restrictive budgets, it is important that ORH develop and maintain a system to consistently evaluate, improve, and monitor highlighted RPPs against nationally accepted health care criteria.
Solution
The objective of this project is to provide support services to function as a third-party reviewer in the ORH RPP nomination, review, and recommendation process. The Atlas Team developed a standardized rubric for the nomination process and used it to review nominated practices. The Atlas Team also thoroughly researched and prepared issue briefs containing essential information for health care administrators or practitioners who may be considering adoption and implementation of the programs, and will do this for twenty geriatric-focused rural promising practices.
Result
Atlas is helping ORH develop a more rigorous RPP program that can be used to inform future decision making regarding funding and implementation of programs.