The VHA Innovators Network is made up of VA employees who design innovative solutions to improve the way VA provides care for veterans. It is known as iNET and is located in 34 VA facilities. VA staff in the program work on the problems they and veterans face first-hand.
It promotes a culture across VA that is developing an innovative workforce to meet the challenges head-on to improve the way VA provides care for its veterans. Creating opportunities for VA employees to take on frontline challenges and turn ideas into reality is part of what iNET does best.
The network identifies highly committed employees through a Spark-Seed-Spread competition, then coaches them to design differently as they develop and implement innovative solutions that improve veteran healthcare.
Bootcamp starts the journey of innovation
Each year, a new group of employees begin their innovation journey by attending the Accelerator Bootcamp, which took place roughly this year in November.
During this three-day event, more than 100 innovative employees had the opportunity to get to know each other, learn the basics of iNET, and see what the next year will look like.
Dr. Clancy
The Bootcamp participants learned the ideas they will be exposed to and the relationships they will create. This helps them in launching, refining and growing their own business; It provides them with new tools to use throughout their careers – embracing a true, ongoing and enduring spirit of innovation.
Attendees also had the privilege of hearing live from Dr. Caroline Clancy, Deputy Under Secretary of Health for the Office of Discovery, Education and Affiliate Networks, which was followed by an inspiring welcome by an expert steering committee from the Healthcare Office of Innovation and Learning.
Attendees were also able to hear from Aspen Labs, the company partnering with iNET to develop the Innovation Accelerator Program for the upcoming fiscal year.
Learning from a veteran’s perspective
At the event, attendees discussed the problems they are working on and how to learn more about the problem from the perspective of the veterans designing the solutions for them.
“There are a lot of ambitious people with great ideas working at VHA,” said one of the attendees.
Another said, “There are a lot of good ideas coming out of people who want to improve service for veterans.”
Additional comments showed how excited they are to continue to connect and connect with each other, not only to continue to inspire each other, but to pool resources to make big impacts while building the future of veterans care.
iNET’s mission is to lead the cultural revolution in which creative thinking and action can lead to endless possibilities.