Concern is growing over delays in adoption of new health research findings into clinical practice, especially among those caring for veterans, who already face limited access to health services and below-average outcomes.
To address the issue, a team of researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center launched a new Health Systems Research Center of Innovation for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Christianne L. Roumie, M.D., M.P.H., an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics, will lead the new center alongside Michael Matheny, M.D., M.S., M.P.H., professor of biomedical informatics, biostatistics and medicine, and Lucy Spalluto, M.D., M.P.H., professor of radiology and radiological sciences. The center in Nashville includes 36 core and affiliate VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System researchers and is one of 20 Centers of Innovation across the country.
“Our center employs a holistic strategy designed to reduce the burden of acute and chronic diseases in veteran populations,” Roumie said. “We assist researchers in learning and applying best practices, while also enabling patients to take part in the process.”
Supporting Collaborative Research
The VETerans’ Wellbeing through Innovation Systems Science and Experience in Learning Health Systems center, also known as VETWISE-LHS, has two primary goals:
- Preventing onset of early-stage diseases and improving the care of complex chronic or acute illness through research, discovery and practice.
- Developing innovative methods to enhance longitudinal data collection and to transform that data into knowledge to improve veteran health.
In an arrangement designed to integrate knowledge-generation processes into workflows, researchers from the Health Systems Research Center of Excellence at Vanderbilt collaborate directly with institutional leaders and strategic partners to generate new insights and evidence.
These learnings will not only improve veterans’ health outcomes but also expand the real-world impact of VA research, Roumie believes.
“It’s about building partnerships, not just funding projects.”
“We are supporting several projects that will directly impact the care of veterans,” Roumie said. “It’s about building partnerships, not just funding projects.”
The Patient Outcomes and Health Policy Core, a group directed by Roumie, helps veterans make informed decisions to support their health and generates evidence about the strategies that are safest, most effective and of highest value.
As new evidence emerges, she and her team plan to engage with policy stakeholders and medical service lines to advocate for changes that directly benefit veterans.
Optimizing ICU Discharge Care for Veterans
Roumie and her colleagues, in collaboration with E. Wesley Ely, M.D., professor of medicine, will begin with an intervention to improve function and quality of life for veterans after ICU discharge.
Called the ICU Liberation Bundle, the program will be available at numerous sites across the Vanderbilt Health Affiliated Network. It delivers a multi-pronged plan of care, including steps for enhancing the discharge experience.
“This project is a good example of the research process,” Roumie explained. “As we test the intervention, we will uncover what works and what doesn’t, enabling us to apply our insights across the entire network.”
Equipping the Leaders of Tomorrow
According to Roumie, a fundamental aspect of the VA’s mission is to educate future physicians, nurses and healthcare professionals. She notes that the scope of this mandate is broad, allowing for both clinical and research training opportunities.
“Training the next generation of clinicians and scientists is an important part of our long-term vision for the center.”
In VETWISE-LHS, Roumie envisions a new model for training clinicians and scientists in embedded-research theory and practice that occurs at the intersection of frontline patient-provider interaction.
“Training the next generation of clinicians and scientists is an important part of our long-term vision for the center,” Roumie said. “Although there is still plenty of work to be done to make this happen, we are taking great strides forward.”
