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Project ATLAS

Health knows no bounds.

Virtual care,
anywhere, 
for veterans

challenge

Challenge

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides healthcare to nearly 9 million veterans, one-third of whom live in rural areas. Providing care to rural veterans presents real delivery challenges. Geographic and digital divides can make it even harder for veterans to get the care they need.

To solve these challenges, Philips has partnered with VA, The American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to provide the equipment for virtual clinics within VFW and American Legion posts throughout the United States.
VA Connected Care

Solution

VA’s Project Advancing Telehealth through Local Access Stations, or ATLAS, brings care to veterans where and when they need it most. This will allow veterans to be examined at their local post through virtual appointments with medical professionals across the nation - saving veterans endless highway hours and travel expenses.

The goal of this program? Make healthcare more accessible and affordable for our nation’s veterans.
VA Connected Care

Solution

VA’s Project Advancing Telehealth through Local Access Stations, or ATLAS, brings care to veterans where and when they need it most. This will allow veterans to be examined at their local post through virtual appointments with medical professionals across the nation - saving veterans endless highway hours and travel expenses.

The goal of this program? Make healthcare more accessible and affordable for our nation’s veterans.
project atlas cocreate session
Play

Project ATLAS Cocreate sessions

To better understand the challenges rural veterans face, Philips, the Department of Veterans Affairs, VFW and The American Legion didn’t just create ideas for veterans, we partnered with them to create custom solutions that work. This is Project ATLAS. We’re enabling healthcare access in remote areas across the US so that all veterans can get the care they deserve.

 

Take a look at this video with veterans in Pennsylvania, California, and Montana, where we worked together to understand their healthcare challenges.

Roadmap to telehealth

Kicking off in Eureka, Montana, followed by sites in Linesville, Pennsylvania, and Los Banos, California, Project Atlas will begin 2H 2019 with 10 pilot sites to be installed by EOY 2020.

Project ATLAS will use Philips telehealth patient monitoring solutions, including WiFi-enabled electronic scales, blood pressure cuffs and thermometers, as well as glucose meters and pulse oximeters – all linked to a secure, high-speed internet connection. In these remote medical exam rooms, veterans will have the ability to check in with their regular VA clinicians, even from afar.

Eureka, Montana

VFW Post 6786

VA Connected Care

Pictured: Ken Utter, a veteran from Eureka, Montana, participates in a telehealth roleplaying scenario as part of the Eureka Cocreate session with Philips and the VA.

Linesville, Pennsylvania

VFW Post 7842

Linesville

Pictured: Ed O’Malley and Ray Andel, veterans from Linesville, Pennsylvania, use a tablet to demonstrate the remote care experience through the VA Video Connect telehealth platform.

Los Banos, California

VFW Post 2487 and American Legion Post 166

Los Banos

Pictured: Thomas Higby III, a veteran from Los Banos, California, demonstrates the blood pressure cuff inside the ATLAS telehealth pod at his local VFW post.

    • Linesville

      Linesville, Pennsylvania
      VFW Post 7842

      Pictured: Ed O’Malley and Ray Andel, veterans from Linesville, Pennsylvania, use a tablet to demonstrate the remote care experience through the VA Video Connect telehealth platform.
    • Eureka

      Eureka, Montana
      VFW Post 6786

      Pictured: Ken Utter, a veteran from Eureka, Montana, participates in a telehealth roleplaying scenario as part of the Eureka Cocreate session with Philips and the VA.
    • Los Banos

      Los Banos, California
      VFW Post 2487 and American Legion Post 166

      Pictured: Thomas Higby III, a veteran from Los Banos, California, demonstrates the blood pressure cuff inside the ATLAS telehealth pod at his local VFW post.

    Veteran healthcare by the numbers

    eighteen million veterans icon

    18 million+ people

    cared for by the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Military Health System1, making these two of the nation’s largest and most complex health systems2

    nine million veterans icon

    9 million veterans

    enrolled in the VA Health Care system, including 3 million living in rural areas3

    nine million veterans icon

    1 million+

    VA video telehealth visits facilitated in 2018, a record for the VA4
    94% of patients were satisfied with their care5

    Solving the issue of access to care for our nation’s veterans is something that will take collaboration across the public and private sector, but if we can work with these forward thinking VSOs to leverage telehealth solutions and move care closer to home,
    we can give our nation’s veterans access to the care they so richly deserve."

    Vitor Rocha

    Chief Market Leader of Philips North America

    Vitor Rocha

    Solving the issue of access to care for our nation’s veterans is something that will take collaboration across the public and private sector, but if we can work with these forward thinking VSOs to leverage telehealth solutions and move care closer to home, we can give our nation’s veterans access to the care they so richly deserve."

    Vitor Rocha,

    Chief Market Leader of Philips North America

    Learn more about telehealth and veteran care

    Telehealth story
    A telehealth story
    (Article sponsored by The Atlantic)
    Read more
    Caring for our veterans
    Play
    Caring for our veterans
     
    Watch video
    CJM
    Military and Veteran Caregiver Journey Experience Map
    Read more

    Sources:
    1. Veterans Health Administration. About VHA. https://www.va.gov/health/aboutvha.asp

    2. Military Health System. Beneficiary Population Statistics. https://www.health.mil/I-Am-A/Media/Media-Center/Patient-Population-Statistics
    3. VA Office of Rural Health. Rural Veterans. https://www.ruralhealth.va.gov/aboutus/ruralvets.asp
    4. VA Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. VA exceeds 1 million video telehealth visits in FY2018 [Press Release]. https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5196

    5. Resources and Capabilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to Provide Timely and Accessible Care to Veterans. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2015. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1165z2.html