National Coordination Center to Support VA EMR with Resources from Top U.S. Health Care Organizations

WASHINGTON, March 06, 2018 -- The founding members of the National Coordination Center's Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Steering Committee today announced their commitment to help support the VA’s 10-year implementation of a Cerner Millennium®-based EMR system. The NCC is a newly formed organization dedicated to disseminating best practices through national collaborations. The NCC will address some of the nation’s most pressing health care issues by identifying the brightest minds and most successful organizations in health care and pairing them with those that need help solving problems.   

To help VA create a learning health system to support their role in integrated systems of care, thought leaders have joined the NCC's VA Steering Committee. These thought leaders will advise the NCC on how to best connect bright minds in the VA with the brightest minds in the private and public sectors. The NCC VA Steering Committee will consist of experts from fields that will help mitigate risk to the planned EMR implementation and work to position the VA to deliver high-quality care. Some of the topics to be addressed include quality and safety, interoperability, workflow standardization, patient engagement and value-based care.

“This effort will enable academics throughout the country to collaborate in the quest to improve health care for our veterans. The opportunities ahead are enormous, and it is a privilege to work with the NCC to connect people committed to serving the best interests of veterans,” said Dr. Harlan Krumholz of Yale’s Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, a member of the NCC VA Steering Committee.

Ed Cantwell is a veteran from a family of veterans who believes interoperability benefits patients, the health care marketplace and the nation. As the CEO of the Center for Medical Interoperability, he will lead the NCC VA Steering Committee's efforts to enhance device integration.

“I am thrilled to support the NCC, as the VA and nation need to align on a path to data liquidity and comprehensive interoperability to provide the best care for our veterans,” Cantwell said.

The NCC VA Steering Committee will also include representatives from various segments of the health care industry. To meet this goal, Dr. Tricia Nguyen, CEO of Inova Commonwealth Health Network, and Dr. Harold P Freeman, the founder of the Harold P. Freeman Patient Navigation Institute, will join to contribute perspectives on health plan operations, and patient navigation and underrepresented populations perspectives, respectively. 

“Cerner is excited to work with the NCC and its esteemed group of academic leaders to create a lasting solution in support of the VA and our veterans,” said Travis Dalton, senior vice president of Cerner Government Services. “Seamless data exchange across the vast network of VA medical facilities and with the commercial health care sector is our top priority.”

The NCC works to engage the broadest network possible, including organizations or institutions dedicated to forwarding specific areas of health care, individuals with great ideas, veterans and underrepresented minority groups, and seasoned practitioners in the field.

Go to the NCC website at www.nationalcoordinationcenter.com to get involved by submitting interest in staffing a future position or registering for ongoing communications to keep informed of NCC activities (including a future learning series supported by our leaders). 

Contact:
Austin Cozzolino
+ 1 816-786-2154
[email protected]