New VA Innovation Center To Build On Success Of VAi2

The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced that it is establishing a new VA Center for Innovation, or VACI, that will build on the three-year track record of the VA Innovation Initiative, known as VAi2.

VACI launches with a portfolio of more than 120 projects seeded by VAi2 and that represent some of the higher profile innovations in the federal government in recent years, including the Blue Button personal electronic health record, the open source community around electronic health records with OSHERA, and the business incubator for Veteran startups called VETransfer.

Wednesday’s announcement includes thirteen new innovations in such areas as teleaudiology, prosthetic socket redesign Blue Button, and automating the sterilization process for reusable medical instruments. In addition to the name change, VACI expands on the work of VAi2 with a new innovation fellows program, entrepreneur-in-residence program, and a partnerships program all intended to “lower the barrier of entry for innovations,” according to Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki...