@BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", editor = "Anne N. Styka and Bruce N. Calonge", title = "Review of the Department of Veterans Affairs Presumption Decision Process", isbn = "978-0-309-70701-5", abstract = "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides health care and other benefits to eligible veterans with physical and mental injuries or illnesses (conditions) related to their military service. When the scientific information needed to connect a veterans service or a particular military exposure with their diagnosed condition is nonexistent, impossible to obtain, or incomplete, VA may make a presumption of service connection using a formalized decision process.\nIn 2022, VA instituted a series of changes intended to ensure the presumption decision process was more scientifically based, fair, consistent, transparent, timely, and veteran-centric. The PACT Act of 2022 called for a National Academies committee to review the VA revised process document used to identify medical conditions to evaluate for presumption status, the factors that such an evaluation entails, and the governance process for the review and approval of a presumption recommendation. This resulting report, Review of the Department of Veterans Affairs Presumption Decision Process, contains the committee findings, conclusions, and recommendations. ", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27166/review-of-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-presumption-decision-process", year = 2023, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", title = "Necessity, Use, and Care of Laboratory Dogs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs", isbn = "978-0-309-67641-0", abstract = "For many years, laboratory dogs have served as important animal models for biomedical research that has advanced human health. Conducted at the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), this report assesses whether laboratory dogs are or will continue to be necessary for biomedical research related to the VA's mission. The report concludes that using laboratory dogs in research at the VA is scientifically necessary for only a few areas of current biomedical research. The report recommends that the VA adopt an expanded set of criteria for determining when it is scientifically necessary to use laboratory dogs in VA biomedical research; that the VA promote the development and use of alternatives to laboratory dogs; and highlights opportunities for the VA to enhance the welfare of laboratory dogs that are being used in biomedical research areas for which they have been deemed necessary.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25772/necessity-use-and-care-of-laboratory-dogs-at-the-us-department-of-veterans-affairs", year = 2020, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", title = "Reassessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry", isbn = "978-0-309-69423-0", abstract = "Beginning with the 1990\u20131991 Gulf War, more than 3.7 million U.S. service members have been deployed to Southwest Asia, where they have been exposed to a number of airborne hazards, including oil-well fire smoke, emissions from open burn pits, dust and sand, diesel exhaust, and poor-quality ambient air. Many service members, particularly those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, have reported health problems they attribute to their exposure to emissions from open-air burn pits on military installations.\n\nIn 2013, Congress directed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and maintain the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit (AH&OBP) Registry to \"ascertain and monitor\" the health effects of such exposures. This report serves as a follow-up to an initial assessment of the AH&OBP Registry completed by an independent committee of the National Academies in 2017. This reassessment does not include any strength-of-the-evidence assessments of potential relationships between exposures to burn pits or airborne hazards and health effects. Rather, this report assesses the ability of the registry to fulfill the intended purposes that Congress and VA have specified for it.\n", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26729/reassessment-of-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-airborne-hazards-and-open-burn-pit-registry", year = 2022, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", title = "Letter Report on Review of Department of Veterans Affairs Monograph on Potential Therapeutic Effects of Service and Emotional Support Dogs on Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder", abstract = "In response to a request from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, this publication reviews the Department of Veterans Affairs Monograph titled A Randomized Trial of Differential Effectiveness of Service Dog Pairing Versus Emotional Support Dog Pairing to Improve Quality of Life for Veterans with PTSD. Review of Department of Veterans Affairs Monograph on Potential Therapeutic Effects of Service and Emotional Support Dogs on Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder critiques the draft monograph and reviews it for consistency with accepted scientific principles and its suitability for publication.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26039/letter-report-on-review-of-department-of-veterans-affairs-monograph-on-potential-therapeutic-effects-of-service-and-emotional-support-dogs-on-veterans-with-post-traumatic-stress-disorder", year = 2021, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", title = "Letter Report on Review of Department of Veterans Affairs Monograph on the Economic Impact and Cost Effectiveness of Service Dogs on Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder", abstract = "Service dogs have been promoted as a potential intervention for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); however, research supporting their effectiveness is limited. At the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the National Academies provided iterative reviews of a VA monograph that assesses the economic impact and cost effectiveness of programs involving trained service dogs or emotional support dogs and veterans with PTSD. The reviews evaluated the draft monograph with regard to consistency and the use of accepted scientific principles. Working from this input, the VA finalized and released the monograph, The Economic Impact and Cost Effectiveness of Service Dogs for Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, in January 2022.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26353/letter-report-on-review-of-department-of-veterans-affairs-monograph-on-the-economic-impact-and-cost-effectiveness-of-service-dogs-on-veterans-with-post-traumatic-stress-disorder", year = 2021, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", title = "Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services", isbn = "978-0-309-46657-8", abstract = "Approximately 4 million U.S. service members took part in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shortly after troops started returning from their deployments, some active-duty service members and veterans began experiencing mental health problems. Given the stressors associated with war, it is not surprising that some service members developed such mental health conditions as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use disorder. Subsequent epidemiologic studies conducted on military and veteran populations that served in the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq provided scientific evidence that those who fought were in fact being diagnosed with mental illnesses and experiencing mental health\u2013related outcomes\u2014in particular, suicide\u2014at a higher rate than the general population. \n\nThis report provides a comprehensive assessment of the quality, capacity, and access to mental health care services for veterans who served in the Armed Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom\/Operation Iraqi Freedom\/Operation New Dawn. It includes an analysis of not only the quality and capacity of mental health care services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, but also barriers faced by patients in utilizing those services.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24915/evaluation-of-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-mental-health-services", year = 2018, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", editor = "David A. Savitz and Anne N. Styka and David A. Butler", title = "Assessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry", isbn = "978-0-309-45117-8", abstract = "Military operations produce a great deal of trash in an environment where standard waste management practices may be subordinated to more pressing concerns. As a result, ground forces have long relied on incineration in open-air pits as a means of getting rid of refuse. Concerns over possible adverse effects of exposure to smoke from trash burning in the theater were first expressed in the wake of the 1990\u20131991 Gulf War and stimulated a series of studies that indicated that exposures to smoke from oil-well fires and from other combustion sources, including waste burning, were stressors for troops. In January 2013, Congress directed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish and maintain a registry for service members who may have been exposed to toxic airborne chemicals and fumes generated by open burn pits. \n\nAssessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry analyzes the initial months of data collected by the registry and offers recommendations on ways to improve the instrument and best use the information it collects. This report assesses the effectiveness of the VA's information gathering efforts and provides recommendations for addressing the future medical needs of the affected groups, and provides recommendations on collecting, maintaining, and monitoring information collected by the VA's Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/23677/assessment-of-the-department-of-veterans-affairs-airborne-hazards-and-open-burn-pit-registry", year = 2017, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", editor = "Linda Casola", title = "Identifying and Managing Veteran Suicide Risk: Proceedings of a Workshop", isbn = "978-0-309-70790-9", abstract = "On May 23, 2023, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences hosted a workshop titled Current Practices and Challenges for Identifying and Managing Suicide Risk Among Veterans in Non-Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare Systems to explore the landscape of veteran health care and suicide risk; consider strategies to identify veterans who receive their health care outside of the VHA; and identify best practices for suicide risk identification and care for VA-purchased care in community and at non-VA entities. This proceedings presents a summary of the presentation and discussion of the workshop.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27195/identifying-and-managing-veteran-suicide-risk-proceedings-of-a-workshop", year = 2023, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", editor = "Marc Meisnere and Adrienne Formentos and Megan Snair", title = "Improving Access to High-Quality Mental Health Care for Veterans: Proceedings of a Workshop", isbn = "978-0-309-70833-3", abstract = "The mental and behavioral health care needs of Americans, including veterans, have substantially grown over the past few decades. As the nations largest provider of mental health care, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) faces some of the greatest challenges in meeting the mental health care needs of its population. These challenges are exacerbated by a shrinking mental health care workforce and provider shortages in low-income and rural communities. To address these challenges, and at the request of VA, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Forum on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders held a public workshop on Improving Access to High-Quality Mental Health Care for Veterans to explore the U.S. landscape for mental health care services, including telehealth services. The workshop considered ways to improve veterans timely access to high-quality care for mental health conditions. In particular, it explored internal and external best practices for three critical needs for mental health access (known as tripartite access in VA): urgent\/crisis, engagement, and sustained access. This proceedings document summarizes discussions at the workshop.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27206/improving-access-to-high-quality-mental-health-care-for-veterans", year = 2023, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", editor = "Alex H. Krist and Jeannette South-Paul and Marc Meisnere", title = "Achieving Whole Health: A New Approach for Veterans and the Nation", isbn = "978-0-309-69927-3", abstract = "Whole health is physical, behavioral, spiritual, and socioeconomic well-being as defined by individuals, families, and communities. Whole health care is an interprofessional, team-based approach anchored in trusted relationships to promote well-being, prevent disease, and restore health. It aligns with a person's life mission, aspiration, and purpose. It shifts the focus from a reactive disease-oriented medical care system to one that prioritizes disease prevention, health, and well-being. It changes the health care conversation from \"What\u2019s wrong with you?\" to \"What matters to you?\"The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Samueli Foundation, and the Whole Health Institute commissioned the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to establish a committee to provide guidance on how to fill gaps and create processes to accelerate the transformation to whole health care for veterans, both inside and outside the VA system, and the rest of the U.S. population. The resulting report presents findings and recommendations that provide a roadmap for improving health and well-being for veterans and the nation.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26854/achieving-whole-health-a-new-approach-for-veterans-and-the", year = 2023, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "Institute of Medicine", title = "Evaluation of the Lovell Federal Health Care Center Merger: Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations", isbn = "978-0-309-26279-8", abstract = "The 2010 opening of the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC) created a joint entity between the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that replaced two separate centers in North Chicago. VA and DoD leaders envisioned a state-of-the-art facility that would deliver health care to both DoD and VA beneficiaries from northern Illinois to southern Wisconsin, providing service members and veterans seamless access to an expanded array of medical services. Unprecedented for the military and the VA, the Lovell FHCC would integrate clinical and administrative services under a single line of authority.\n\nThe DoD asked the IOM to evaluate whether the Lovell FHCC has improved health care access, quality, and cost for the DoD and the VA, compared with operating separate facilities, and to examine whether patients and health care providers are satisfied with joint VA\/DoD delivery of health care. \n\nEvaluation of the Lovell Federal Health Care Center Merger: Findings, conclusions, and Recommendations finds that initial implementation of the Lovell FHCC has provided important lessons about how to integrate VA and DoD health care services and has identified remaining obstacles that the departments could overcome to make such mergers more effective and less costly to implement. The IOM recommends that the VA and the DoD develop a comprehensive evaluation plan to objectively judge its success or failure, with measurable criteria, that would provide essential knowledge for both the Lovell FHCC and future endeavors.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13482/evaluation-of-the-lovell-federal-health-care-center-merger-findings", year = 2012, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "Institute of Medicine", title = "Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations: Final Assessment", isbn = "978-0-309-30173-2", abstract = "Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the signature injuries of the U.S. conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, but it affects veterans of all eras. It is estimated that 7-20% of service members and veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom may have the disorder. PTSD is characterized by a combination of mental health symptoms - re-experiencing of a traumatic event, avoidance of trauma-associated stimuli, adverse alterations in thoughts and mood, and hyperarousal - that last at least 1 month and impair functioning. PTSD can be lifelong and pervade all aspects of a service member's or veteran's life, including mental and physical health, family and social relationships, and employment. It is often concurrent with other health problems, such as depression, traumatic brain injury, chronic pain, substance abuse disorder, and intimate partner violence.\nThe Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provide a spectrum of programs and services to screen for, diagnose, treat for, and rehabilitate service members and veterans who have or are at risk for PTSD. The 2010 National Defense Authorization Act asked the Institute of Medicine to assess those PTSD programs and services in two phases. The Phase 1 study, Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations: Initial Assessment, focused on data gathering. Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations Final Assessment is the report of the second phase of the study. This report analyzes the data received in Phase 1 specifically to determine the rates of success for each program or method.\nTreatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations Final Assessment considers what a successful PTSD management system is and whether and how such a system is being implemented by DoD and VA. This includes an assessment of what care is given and to whom, how effectiveness is measured, what types of mental health care providers are available, what influences whether a service member or veteran seeks care, and what are the costs associated with that care. This report focuses on the opportunities and challenges that DoD and VA face in developing, implementing, and evaluating services and programs in the context of achieving a high-performing system to care for service members and veterans who have PTSD. The report also identifies where gaps or new emphases might be addressed to improve prevention of, screening for, diagnosis of, and treatment and rehabilitation for the disorder. The findings and recommendations of Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations: Final Assessment will encourage DoD and VA to increase their efforts in moving toward a high-performing, comprehensive, integrated PTSD management strategy that addresses the needs of current and future service members, veterans, and their families. ", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18724/treatment-for-posttraumatic-stress-disorder-in-military-and-veteran-populations", year = 2014, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", title = "Evaluation of the Disability Determination Process for Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans", isbn = "978-0-309-48686-6", abstract = "The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) provides disability compensation to veterans with a service-connected injury, and to receive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a veteran must submit a claim or have a claim submitted on his or her behalf. Evaluation of the Disability Determination Process for Traumatic Brain Injury in Veterans reviews the process by which the VA assesses impairments resulting from traumatic brain injury for purposes of awarding disability compensation. This report also provides recommendations for legislative or administrative action for improving the adjudication of veterans' claims seeking entitlement to compensation for all impairments arising from a traumatic brain injury.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25317/evaluation-of-the-disability-determination-process-for-traumatic-brain-injury-in-veterans", year = 2019, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "Institute of Medicine", title = "Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations: Initial Assessment", isbn = "978-0-309-25421-2", abstract = "Prior to the military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, wars and conflicts have been characterized by such injuries as infectious diseases and catastrophic gunshot wounds. However, the signature injuries sustained by United States military personnel in these most recent conflicts are blast wounds and the psychiatric consequences to combat, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects an estimated 13 to 20 percent of U.S. service members who have fought in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001. PTSD is triggered by a specific traumatic event - including combat - which leads to symptoms such as persistent re-experiencing of the event; emotional numbing or avoidance of thoughts, feelings, conversations, or places associated with the trauma; and hyperarousal, such as exaggerated startle responses or difficulty concentrating. \n \nAs the U.S. reduces its military involvement in the Middle East, the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) anticipate that increasing numbers of returning veterans will need PTSD services. As a result, Congress asked the DoD, in consultation with the VA, to sponsor an IOM study to assess both departments' PTSD treatment programs and services. Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Military and Veteran Populations: Initial Assessment is the first of two mandated reports examines some of the available programs to prevent, diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate those who have PTSD and encourages further research that can help to improve PTSD care. \n ", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13364/treatment-for-posttraumatic-stress-disorder-in-military-and-veteran-populations", year = 2012, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "Institute of Medicine", title = "Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Gulf War Veterans: Case Definitions Reexamined", isbn = "978-0-309-29876-6", abstract = "More than 2 decades have passed since the 1990-1991 conflict in the Persian Gulf. During the intervening years, many Gulf War veterans have experienced various unexplained symptoms that many associate with service in the gulf region, but no specific exposure has been definitively associated with symptoms. Numerous researchers have described the pattern of signs and symptoms found in deployed Gulf War veterans and noted that they report unexplained symptoms at higher rates than nondeployed veterans or veterans deployed elsewhere during the same period. Gulf War veterans have consistently shown a higher level of morbidity than the nondeployed, in some cases with severe and debilitating consequences. However, efforts to define a unique illness or syndrome in Gulf War veterans have failed, as have attempts to develop a uniformly accepted case definition.\nChronic Multisymptom Illness in Gulf War Veterans is a comprehensive review of the available scientific and medical literature regarding symptoms for chronic multisymptom illness (CMI) among the 1991 Gulf War Veterans. This report evaluates and summarizes the literature in an effort to identify appropriate terminology to use in referring to CMI in Gulf War Veterans. While the report does not recommend one specific case definition over another, Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Gulf War Veterans does recommend the consideration of two case definitions on the basis of their concordance with the evidence and their ability to identify specific symptoms commonly reported by Gulf War veterans. This report recommends that the Department of Veterans Affairs use the term Gulf War illness rather than CMI. The report recommends that that the Department of Veterans Affairs, to the extent possible, systematically assess existing data to identify additional features of Gulf War illness, such as onset, duration, severity, frequency of symptoms, and exclusionary criteria to produce a more robust case definition.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18623/chronic-multisymptom-illness-in-gulf-war-veterans-case-definitions-reexamined", year = 2014, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "Institute of Medicine", title = "Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan: Assessment of Readjustment Needs of Veterans, Service Members, and Their Families", isbn = "978-0-309-26427-3", abstract = "As of December 2012, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) in Iraq have resulted in the deployment of about 2.2 million troops; there have been 2,222 US fatalities in OEF and Operation New Dawn (OND)1 and 4,422 in OIF. The numbers of wounded US troops exceed 16,000 in Afghanistan and 32,000 in Iraq. In addition to deaths and morbidity, the operations have unforeseen consequences that are yet to be fully understood.\nIn contrast with previous conflicts, the all-volunteer military has experienced numerous deployments of individual service members; has seen increased deployments of women, parents of young children, and reserve and National Guard troops; and in some cases has been subject to longer deployments and shorter times at home between deployments. Numerous reports in the popular press have made the public aware of issues that have pointed to the difficulty of military personnel in readjusting after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of those who have served in OEF and OIF readjust with few difficulties, but others have problems in readjusting to home, reconnecting with family members, finding employment, and returning to school.\nIn response to the return of large numbers of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan with physical-health and mental-health problems and to the growing readjustment needs of active duty service members, veterans, and their family members, Congress included Section 1661 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008. That section required the secretary of defense, in consultation with the secretary of veterans affairs, to enter into an agreement with the National Academies for a study of the physical-health, mental-health, and other readjustment needs of members and former members of the armed forces who were deployed in OIF or OEF, their families, and their communities as a result of such deployment.\nThe study consisted of two phases. The Phase 1 task was to conduct a preliminary assessment. The Phase 2 task was to provide a comprehensive assessment of the physical, psychologic, social, and economic effects of deployment on and identification of gaps in care for members and former members, their families, and their communities. The Phase 1 report was completed in March 2010 and delivered to the Department of Defense (DOD), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the relevant committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The secretaries of DOD and VA responded to the Phase 1 report in September 2010. Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan: Assessment of Readjustment Needs of Veterans, Service Members, and Their Families fulfills the requirement for Phase 2.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13499/returning-home-from-iraq-and-afghanistan-assessment-of-readjustment-needs", year = 2013, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", editor = "Court Lewis", title = "Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Capital Asset Inventory Database Management and Strategic Capital: Proceedings of a Workshop–in Brief", abstract = "The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on February 19-20, 2019. The purpose of this 2-day workshop was to explore the tools, techniques, and models being used by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and other organizations both within and outside the federal government for facilities asset and data management, capital planning, and project management relevant to Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, and in particular the staffing challenges relative to those functions. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25453/facilities-staffing-requirements-for-the-veterans-health-administration-capital-asset-inventory-database-management-and-strategic-capital", year = 2019, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", editor = "Melissa Maitin-Shepard and Katiria Ortiz and Sharyl Nass", title = "Key Operational Characteristics and Functionalities of a State-of-the-Art Patient Scheduling System: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief", abstract = "Current electronic health care systems are archaic and face similar challenges that limit efficient patient scheduling and health care accessibility. A large initiative to improve these systems is underway because these challenges exist across many electronic health care systems. However, these challenges are exacerbated within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System due to uniquely complex aspects of that system and its patients.\nThe National Academies convened a two-day workshop to explore important operational characteristics and functionalities of effective patient scheduling systems. This workshop built upon a 2015 Institute of Medicine report that identified hurdles to timely patient scheduling specifically within the Veterans Health Administration, who administers the VA system. Discussions at the workshop reviewed past healthcare system patient, clinician, and scheduler experiences and technologies. They also highlighted the importance of design, implementation, and adaptability of scheduling systems. This publication summarizes the presentations from the workshop. ", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25556/key-operational-characteristics-and-functionalities-of-a-state-of-the-art-patient-scheduling-system", year = 2019, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine", editor = "Linda Casola", title = "Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Engineering Administration: Proceedings of a Workshop–in Brief", abstract = "The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a workshop on March 5-6, 2019, to explore staffing considerations for engineering administration at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Workshop speakers shared information about (1) data and data management, (2) contracting strategies, and (3) perspectives on challenges and expectations at various VHA facilities. This Proceedings of a Workshop\u2014in Brief summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place during the workshop.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25450/facilities-staffing-requirements-for-the-veterans-health-administration-engineering-administration", year = 2019, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" } @BOOK{NAP author = "Institute of Medicine", editor = "Stuart Bondurant and Roberta Wedge", title = "Combating Tobacco Use in Military and Veteran Populations", isbn = "978-0-309-13767-6", abstract = "The health and economic costs of tobacco use in military and veteran populations are high. In 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) make recommendations on how to reduce tobacco initiation and encourage cessation in both military and veteran populations. In its 2009 report, Combating Tobacco in Military and Veteran Populations, the authoring committee concludes that to prevent tobacco initiation and encourage cessation, both DoD and VA should implement comprehensive tobacco-control programs.", url = "https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12632/combating-tobacco-use-in-military-and-veteran-populations", year = 2009, publisher = "The National Academies Press", address = "Washington, DC" }