The Greenhouse is an opportunity for the healthcare innovation community to collaborate with VHA Innovators Network (iNET) sites throughout the country to conduct end user discovery and ideation, share early-stage product designs for end user feedback, and conduct small-scale product feasibility testing with appropriate end users and collect feedback. The idea that frontline healthcare employees should play a major role in designing and developing the future of healthcare via these same principles is catching-on throughout the healthcare innovation community.

Currently, the external healthcare innovation community lacks easy access to a pool of engaged and equipped frontline healthcare professionals and enthusiastic end users. The Greenhouse helps to meet these needs and provide the opportunity for employees at iNET sites to practice Human-Centered Design theory; to learn by doing. Most importantly, the Greenhouse puts the voice of the Veteran and VA into the innovative products of the future.

The Greenhouse focuses on the earliest stages of the innovation and ideation process. If the external organization’s prototype is in production and ready for pilot testing to gain end user feedback, the Greenhouse is not the right avenue for collaboration.

The opportunities below represent external organizations (and individuals) interested in participating in collaborative efforts out of scope for the Greenhouse, but potentially of interest to VA researchers, clinicians, VA facility leadership, etc. This could include clinical testing of an innovative new solution at one or more VA healthcare facility, a large scall user experience testing of a product, or simply a collaboration on a product that wasn’t a good fit with iNET sites but could be a great fit for another VA medical center (e.g., if none of our sites have a dental clinic and the proposed solution is for dentistry).

VA employees (researchers, leadership, any employee) searching for innovation solutions to problems they see in their day-to-day work environment who are willing to collaborate with external innovators.

Reach out directly to the external point of contact for the company. Each open Greenhouse opportunity will have a contact section. Please use email address listed in section below to reach out and start the collaboration at your local site.

Please see the current list of Greenhouse Opportunities.

Greenhouse project timelines can differ depending on innovation maturation; the collaboration can include one or two working paper prototype design feedback calls with stakeholders and up to a 2-month prototype pilot.

Greenhouse Story: iNET and the VHA innovation ecosystem (IE) believe that through collaboration, we can deliver more, together. In December 2020, iNET launched the Greenhouse Initiative (Greenhouse). The Greenhouse is an opportunity for the healthcare innovation community to collaborate with iNET sites throughout the country at the earliest stages of innovation. If you are an external organization and looking to work and innovate with the VA, please apply here. 

Greenhouse Team: iNET’s Greenhouse team consists of, Allison Amrhein, Director, VHA iNET, Donnalee Burch, iNET Collaboration Designer, and Greenhouse support Samantha Weaver. Please contact iNETSupport@va.gov with questions.