The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to launch a five-hospital pilot program to determine how telemedicine can improve care for veterans with mild traumatic brain injuries or concussions, Modern Healthcare reports.
It is estimated that 180,000 veterans are returning from military service with mild to moderate brain injuries, according to data from the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis.
Jacob Kean -- a visiting assistant research professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the IU School of Medicine -- received a five-year, $920,000 grant from the VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Service to build a telemedicine system to improve long-distance care and evaluate veterans' ability to self-manage their condition.
The five institutions participating in the telemedicine pilot program are:
- Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio;
- Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va.;
- Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston;
- Richard Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis; and
- Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. (Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare, 6/28).