Coming Soon: Health Innovation That Matters

In order to make big strides in healthcare IT  -  and particularly within the new collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Georgia Tech  -  Steve Rushing advocates taking small, smart steps. "We're about starting small and smart, releasing early and often  -  do things, put it out there, get feedback, particularly from the marketplace, and adjust quickly," he says. Rushing is director of Health@EI2, a healthcare innovation initiative at Georgia Tech.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) Innovation Sandbox Cloud and the Georgia Institute of Technology's Interoperability and Integration Innovation Lab announced on June 26 they would collaborate to address interoperability issues, accelerate the development of integrated health IT solutions, test new products and help train the IT workforce needed to move the industry forward.

Lofty goals. Yet attainable, Rushing says, with the small-and-smart approach he promotes, and with critical changes that have come about in healthcare and healthcare technology over recent years...