Website: http://www.cmc3.research.va.gov/
CINCCH’s mission is to enhance quality of care, safety, and value for Veterans. A significant focus is on Veterans with disabilities, particularly Veterans with Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders (SCI/D) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), based on our long-standing work, collaborations, and expertise in these areas.
To allow for longitudinal analyses of outcomes, there is a critical need for a comprehensive SCI/D registry that aggregates prior registries and includes epidemiologic data, health factors and outcomes that can be matched with other data, such as healthcare utilization records and cause of death. Research priorities include enhancement of a longitudinal registry of Veterans with SCI/D, assessment of outcomes including value associated with the SCI/D comprehensive annual evaluation examination, and definition and assessment of nurse-sensitive outcomes.
Veterans with SCI/D and others with severe mobility impairments depend on state-of the-art wheelchairs and associated education and training; however, some Veterans receive less than optimal wheelchairs and lack adequate mobility skills, which compromises health, participation, and safety outcomes. Research priorities include implementation and evaluation of programs to support efficient and effective provision of wheelchairs to Veterans with complex needs.
CINCCH investigators continue to lead and participate in ongoing and planned research addressing multiple issues and aspects of care management for Veterans with SCI/D. These areas include infectious disease, fractures, pressure ulcers, pain management, and opioid use.
Other research and implementation efforts to enhance quality of care, safety, and value for Veterans include:
The Research to Impact for VeteRans (RIVRs) program is a new HSR&D funding mechanism that gives researchers the opportunity to pursue a five-year impact goal. Each RIVR impact goal aligns with VA priority areas including VA legislative priorities (e.g., MISSION Act); cross-cutting ORD priorities (e.g. PTSD); other HSR&D defined clinical priorities (e.g. Health Equity); and HSR&D methodological priorities (e.g. Data Sciences, Implementation Sciences, Systems Engineering). Impact goals for RIVRS could include changes in VA policy or clinical guidelines, spread of operational processes across VISNs, scaling of an effective intervention to 2-3 additional sites, advancements in health services research methods, or any other impacts that have real-world effects on Veteran health and satisfaction.
Data to Improve Veterans’ Outcomes (DIVO) in SCI/D
Principal Investigator: Kevin Stroupe, PhD
Goals of this project include developing and improving the use of data, standardized across VHA Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders (SCI/D) Centers; enhancing the care and experience of Veterans with SCI/D; promoting a learning healthcare system; and supporting innovations in care through research. Investigators will accomplish this by enhancing an existing longitudinal registry of Veterans with SCI/D. Using health services research methods, including data and measurement science and mixed-methods approaches, investigators will incorporate routinely collected data as well as patient-reported data into the registry and use the registry to assess patients’ outcomes.
Each COIN works closely with operational partners throughout the VA healthcare system. CINCCH's partners include: