On Monday, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it will grant $80 million in contracts through its new Innovation Initiative competition, also known as VAi2, Federal Computer Week reports. The contest aims to spur the development of applications that could improve the quality of health care and other services for veterans (Lipowicz, Federal Computer Week, 6/8).
Drawing on Private Sector, Entrepreneurs
Last month, VA announced the winners of a similar contest that solicited health IT innovation ideas from department employees.
For its latest contest, VA is seeking submissions from the general public, private companies, entrepreneuers, universities and not-for-profit organizations (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 6/8).
Target Areas
VA officials said the VAi2 competition will encourage participants to explore telehealth tools for in-home care and new technologies for dialysis treatment (Nagesh, "Hillicon Valley," The Hill, 6/8).
VA also is seeking innovative ways to reduce the incidence of adverse drug reactions through software applications that interact with VA's electronic health record system.
In addition, the competition aims to spark the development of remote monitoring technologies and other tools that could improve care for veterans with multiple injuries. Other target areas include housing for homeless veterans and assistance for veterans starting new businesses.
Application Details
According to a notice published on the Federal Business Opportunities website, VA is seeking ideas that could be implemented and achieve progress within two years (Government Health IT, 6/8). The notice also states that the department prefers to award fixed-price contracts (Federal Computer Week, 6/8).
Proposals for the competition are due Sept. 30 (Government Health IT, 6/8).