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Diffusion of Excellence

The Diffusion of Excellence Initiative helps to identify and disseminate clinical and administrative best practices through a learning environment that empowers its top performers to apply their innovative ideas throughout the system. All practices featured on this page are winners of the national VHA Shark Tank Competition.

4-Sight

Reduce Veteran wait times for eyeglasses by up to 53%

Created by the Tibor Rubin VA Medical Center (Long Beach)

Advance Care Planning via Group Visits Program

Increasing Veteran and caregiver motivation for advance care planning

Created by the Eugene J. Towbin Healthcare Center (North Little Rock)

Advanced Comprehensive Diabetes Care (ACDC)

Leveraging Home Telehealth and other VA resources to control diabetes

Created by the Durham VA Medical Center

Age-Friendly Health Systems

Age-Friendly Health Systems reliably provide high-quality care to older Veterans using the 4Ms framework – What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility.

Created by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Allergy to Beta Lactam Evaluation (ABLE)

Improving outcomes by clarifying & clearing penicillin allergies.

Created by the Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr. VA Medical Center (Memphis)

Boothless Audiometry

Think outside the booth! Hearing care everywhere.

Created by the Alexandria VA Medical Center (Alexandria, Louisiana)

Building and Sustaining effective Veterans Family Advisory Councils- Workshop (VFAC)

Veteran and family perspective integrated into VA services at all levels

Created by the Palo Alto VA Medical Center (Palo Alto, California)

Building Spiritual Strength (BSS)

Building Spiritual Strength is a group approach for moral injury that can be led by chaplains, mental health providers, or both as a team.

Created by the Minneapolis VA Medical Center (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans' Hospital (Bedford), Lewiston VA Clinic (Lewiston, Maine)

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Coordinated Access to Reduce Exacerbations (COPD CARE)

Empowering interprofessional care teams to optimize COPD management.

Created by the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans' Hospital (Madison)

Continuous Cleaning of Hightouch Surfaces for Veteran and Employee Safety

Self-cleaning mats continuously disinfect providing extra protection

Created by the H. John Heinz III Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center

ED-PACT Tool

Ensuring Veterans receive needed care after emergency department visits

Created by the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center

EMS CLEAN Covers

This EMS Initiative enhances the cleanliness of Medical Equipment & Beds

Created by the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Cleveland, Ohio)