Conference Day One: July 23, 2024


CLINICAL APPROACHES OVERVIEW

Supply chain disruptions and new software are changing the way that the VA provides the tools, equipment, medicine and technology to its providers and patients. Day 1 will address the modernization initiatives of the VA in tackling these challenges.

7:30 am - 8:30 am REGISTRATION AND NETWORKING

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James Gfrerer

CEO; Federal Business LLC;
Former CIO, Department of Veterans Affairs

  • Overview of how the VA is approaching how best to support nurses across VAMCs, along with integrating feedback from nurses on how best to approach care challenges, burnout and other factors on the job 
  • Expanding communication across and between providers so that veterans can receive quality care 
  • Increased focus on patient centered care across the VHA 
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Christopher Saslo

Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Patient Care Services; Chief Nursing Of
Department of Veterans Affairs

·      Looking at the future of Integrated Veteran Care and Community Care and what it means for access to care for veterans

·      Looking at specific high-visibility transformation initiatives and implementations for healthcare payers, providers, and integrated delivery systems

·      Working through current challenges on implementation and future opportunities

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Dr. Mark Zhang DO, MMSc, FAMIA

Chief Innovation Officer, Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning (OHIL), O
Department of Veterans Affairs

10:00 am - 11:30 am COFFEE AND NETWORKING BREAK


·      Update of current status of the Oracle-Cerner Electronic Health Record Modernization roll out at various VAMC’s

·      Working through challenges, highlighting successes

·      Perspectives on the ongoing rollout, including areas like training and interoperability

·      Overview of how EHRM impacts data

·      Continued rollout of new programs over the course of the year

·      Lessons learned from the 5 live sites and working through enhancements

·      Eyes on training and metrics, change management, lessons learned

·      Restarting pre-deployment in 2025

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William Tinston

Director
Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization Office

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Dr. Neil Evans MD

Acting Program Executive Director, Electronic Health Record Modernization Integr
Department of Veterans Affairs

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Dr. Yvette Weber

Program Executive Officer, Defense Healthcare Management Systems
Department of Defense

·      Understanding the Role of Virtual Care: Gain insights into virtual care platforms that are being successfully implemented within VA hospitals to enhance patient care and operational efficiency.

·      Impact on Patient Outcomes: Learn about specific case studies, such as virtual sitting, and see data demonstrating the positive impact of virtual care solutions.

·      Strategies for Implementation: Acquire practical strategies and best practices for integrating virtual care into existing workflows, including considerations for staff training, patient education, and technological infrastructure.



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Jacenta Best

Chief Nurse, Acute Care, Salisbury, North Carolina VA Health Care System
Department of Veterans Affairs

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Erin Griffes MSN, RN, NE-BC

Customer Success Advisor, Veterans Affairs/Department of Defense
AvaSure

12:15 pm - 1:30 pm LUNCH AND NETWORKING

TRACK BLOC




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Dr. Benjamin Pollock Ph.D., M.S.P.H

Assistant Professor of Health Services Research; Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern
Mayo Clinic

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Dr. Sandeep Wadhwa MD, MBA

Global Chief Medical Officer
Solventum

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Dr. Rick May MD

Senior Principal
Vizient Consulting Solutions

  • How the Veterans Experience Office is integrating new technologies for PX 
  • Maximizing feedback from patients to optimize systems 
  • Success stories from across various VHA facilities that have improved PX results 




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Don Prisby

Founder and President
NorthPoint Advocates

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Donna Richardson

Customer Experience (CX) Outcomes Supervisor, Tools & Implementation (T&I) Direc
Department of Veterans Affairs

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Joe Bush

General Counsel
AvaSure

  • An introduction to Endo Pharmaceuticals, who we are, and what we do
  • Overview of appropriate identification and diagnosis of patients with Dupuytren's Contracture or Peyronie's Disease
  • Available Endo resources for ALL VA Healthcare Providers treating patients in Upper Extremity/Hand Surgery and Men's Sexual Medicine/Urology


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Matt Jason

Associate Director, Commercial Development and Professional Relations
Endo Pharmaceuticals

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Jim Bradley

Director, Commercial Development and Professional Relations
Endo Pharmaceuticals

TRACK ONE: PATIENT EXPERIENCE AND TELEHEALTH

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm NETWORKING AND COFFEE BREAK IN EXHIBITION HALL & WOMEN IN HEALTHCARE NETWORKING CONVERSATION IN PRIVATE MEETING ROOM

TRACK TWO: RECOVERY, PROSTHETICS AND PAIN MANAGEMENT

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm REDUCING AMPUTATIONS AND IMPROVING PAVE OUTCOMES FOR ALL VETERANS UTILIZING CYCLICALLY PRESSURIZED TOPICAL WOUND OXYGEN (TWO2) THERAPY
Dr. Matthew Garoufalis DPM, FASPS, FACPM, CWS, FFPM RCPS (Glasg), FRSM - Chief Medical Officer, Advanced Oxygen Therapy Inc.

Major and Minor DFU related amputations continue to rise globally. The Veterans Administration’s PAVE program is intended to prevent or delay amputations for veterans at risk of limb loss. Evidence based wound care therapeutics proven to heal DFUs more durably are now available. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) awarded topical oxygen therapy an “A” grade treatment recommendation in their 2023 and 2024 Standards of Care. Additionally, the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot (IWGDF) and Wound Healing Society (WHS) has also recommended its use in their latest clinical practice guidelines. Multiple RCT & RWE studies conducted within the Veterans Administration have demonstrated that AOTI’s unique cyclically pressurized patient applied at home TWO2 therapy heals DFUs more sustainably. These studies showed TWO2 healed DFUs with a six-fold reduction in recurrence, resulting in an 88% reduction in hospitalizations & 71% reduction in amputations over 12 months. 



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Dr. Matthew Garoufalis DPM, FASPS, FACPM, CWS, FFPM RCPS (Glasg), FRSM

Chief Medical Officer
Advanced Oxygen Therapy Inc.

TRACK TWO: RECOVERY, PROSTHETICS AND PAIN MANAGEMENT

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm PANEL DISCUSSION: LEADING THE WAY ON VA CORE COMPETENCIES IN PROSTHETICS AND REHAB
Alison Cormier - Field Operations Manager, Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service, Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Overview of full range of equipment and services to available to veterans 
  • Options for veterans impacted by the PACT Act 
  • Ongoing partnerships at the VA PSAS office 


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Alison Cormier

Field Operations Manager, Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service
Department of Veterans Affairs

  • Exploring various VA primary care options for substance abuse 
  • Maximizing access to substance abuse treatment services 
  • Identifying new and innovative treatment options 
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Amanda Doreson

Senior Public Health Advisor, Office of the Chief Medical Officer, Substance Abu
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

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Dr. Friedhelm Sandbrink MD

National Program Executive Director for Pain Management, Opioid Safety, and PDMP
Department of Veterans Affairs

TRACK TWO: RECOVERY, PROSTHETICS AND PAIN MANAGEMENT

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm NETWORKING AND COFFEE BREAK IN EXHIBITION HALL & WOMEN IN HEALTHCARE NETWORKING CONVERSATION IN PRIVATE MEETING ROOM

TRACK ONE: DATA AND CLOUD

3:30 pm - 4:00 pm HOW AI IS MAKING HEALTHCARE MORE HUMAN: IMPROVING SAFETY, EXPERIENCE AND OUTCOMES WITH AUTOMATION
Patrick Winter - SVP of Commercial Operations, Commure/Athelas

·      Explore macro-AI trends impacting success at VA hospitals and health systems

·      Identify opportunities for technology to solve our biggest challenges, including maximizing reimbursements, retaining staff, keeping healthcare safer, and improving care outcomes

·      See how augmenting existing clinical, operational, and financial workflows with AI is helping organizations today do more with less



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Patrick Winter

SVP of Commercial Operations
Commure/Athelas

TRACK ONE: DATA AND CLOUD

4:00 pm - 4:30 pm FIRESIDE CHAT: OVERVIEW OF IT STRATEGY FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF THE VA
Paul Brubaker - Deputy Chief Information Officer, Business Integration and Outcomes Service, Department of Veterans Affairs
Bill James - President, Federal Business LLC
  • Look into key priorities, including the PACT Act IT implementation, zero trust security, low-code agility, the VA's new mobile app, technology application sourcing, AI approaches 
  • Improving execution as a modality for the VA's operational excellence 
  • Road map for resource allocation across the department and future plan


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Paul Brubaker

Deputy Chief Information Officer, Business Integration and Outcomes Service
Department of Veterans Affairs

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Bill James

President
Federal Business LLC

TRACK ONE: DATA AND CLOUD

4:30 pm - 5:00 pm CLOSING FIRESIDE CHAT: EXPLORING HOW CLOUD POLICIES IMPACTS CLINICIANS AND ADMINISTRATORS
Dave Catanoso - Director (A), Application Hosting, Cloud and Edge Solutions, Department of Veterans Affairs
Bill James - President, Federal Business LLC
  • Leveraging data as a strategic asset 
  • Maintaining privacy controls for infrastructure architecture platforms and tools that enable effective data management and security 
  • Celebrating the shift of VistA into the cloud 
  • Reorganization of IT focused programs into a new digital health office 
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Dave Catanoso

Director (A), Application Hosting, Cloud and Edge Solutions
Department of Veterans Affairs

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Bill James

President
Federal Business LLC

TRACK ONE: DATA AND CLOUD

5:00 pm - 5:00 pm CHAIRMAN'S CLOSING REMARKS AND END OF CONFERENCE DAY ONE
  • How VA is moving at the speed of innovation to provide new services for Veterans without sacrificing security and privacy 
  • How VA is working to securely implement cloud enhancements for storage, computing, automation, and tiered storage
  • Why traditional cybersecurity tools and strategies are inadequate in protecting against threats presented by advanced medical devices, and what best cybersecurity protocols VA is using to ensure data is encrypted both at rest and in transit while managing medical and specialty devices
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Amber Pearson

Deputy Chief Information Security Officer and Executive Director of Information
Department of Veterans Affairs

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Don Prisby

Founder and President
NorthPoint Advocates

TRACK TWO: CYBER AND AI

4:00 pm - 4:30 pm DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION @ MAYO CLINIC: EXAMPLES OF PROCESS AND PLATFORM ADOPTION
Keith Whitby - Director of Healthcare Technology Management, Mayo Clinic
  • Micro-segmentation identifying Ordr as a key component of a larger integrated network platform.
  • Optimal integrations to achieve automate onboarding, inventory reconciliation, and operations and segmentation policy enforcement.
  • Ordr Software Inventory Collector (OSIC) which was originally developed as the SMAK replacement tool for the VA.


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Keith Whitby

Director of Healthcare Technology Management
Mayo Clinic

  • Overview of current AI programs across the VA and VHA enterprises 
  • Successes in handling veteran’s claims using Content Classification Predictive Service (CCPS) 
  • Implications of the VA Artificial Intelligence Tech Sprint encouraging innovators across America to create AI-enabled tools 
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James Gfrerer

CEO; Federal Business LLC;
Former CIO, Department of Veterans Affairs

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Dr. Kaeli Yuen MD

Data & AI Health Product Lead, Office of the Chief Technology Officer
Department of Veterans Affairs

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Chris Robinson

Associate Partner, IBM Consulting, Automation and Data Platforms
IBM

TRACK TWO: CYBER AND AI

5:00 pm - 5:00 pm CHAIRMAN'S CLOSING REMARKS AND END OF CONFERENCE DAY ONE