Talk to the Veterans Crisis Line now
U.S. flag
An official website of the United States government

VA Health Systems Research

Go to the VA ORD website
Go to the QUERI website

VIReC Using Data and Information Systems in Partnered Research

The Arranged Marriage between Innovation and Research: Lessons Learned from the FLOW3/VACE Partnership


by Evan Carey, PhD ; Jeffrey Heckman, DO ; Chelsea Leonard, PhD
Seminar date: 5/18/2021

Description: FLOW3 is a VA developed innovation that leverages VA EMR infrastructure to incorporate and streamline the step-wise process for prosthetic limb care. The purpose of FLOW3 is to 1) improve accuracy, efficiency, consistency, and timeliness of the provision of artificial limbs to Veterans with limb loss, 2) improve data systems that manage and report on artificial limb provision, 3) improve employee satisfaction, and 4) improve the Veteran patient experience. To understand and evaluate implementation and impacts of FLOW3 on prosthetic limb care as it spread enterprise-wide, the FLOW3 operations team partnered with an evaluation team. Our partnership has resulted in a nuanced understanding of how a research-operational partnership can contribute to the use of data in a Learning Healthcare System, including identification of data sources to evaluate various aspects of an operations or clinical initiative and describing a standardized process for using and validating electronic health record data. Further, we have developed insight into the synergy of research-operational partnership; both research and operations are enhanced by understanding perspectives and methods of the other.

Objectives: -Present experiential learning of the FLOW3 operations team in development and implementation of a novel program at VA.
-Describe impact of incorporating RE-AIM framework for understanding and development of high value data metrics
-Discuss lessons learned from operationalizing a dashboard using VA data and information systems to monitor and facilitate implementation.

View archived session video:



DOWNLOAD: PDF handout | Audio only (mp3) | transcript


Questions about the HSR website? Email the Web Team

Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.