Federal EHR makes remote infusion care program easier to access for Veterans in Northern Indiana
VA News ·
Clinicians at VA Northern Indiana have learned that deployment of the Federal EHR is further enhancing the value of the "Close to Me" initiative.
From its inception in 2021, the primary goal of VA’s “Close to Me” program was to create convenience for Veterans by making anti-cancer and other infusion therapies available in their communities through local VA clinics and partnering health care providers. As a result, Veterans can avoid driving long distances for these vital services, saving time, money, and the stress of travel.
Clinicians at VA Northern Indiana Health Care System have learned that deployment of the Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR) is further enhancing the value of the Close to Me initiative. With the communication capabilities available in the Federal EHR, VA healthcare officials are better able to coordinate care with community providers serving Veterans, said Dr. Scott Ganger, PharmD, chief of pharmacy for VA Northern Indiana.
“What the Federal EHR has allowed us to do is more fluidly communicate with our community partners,” Ganger said.
He explained that, before the Federal EHR, VA providers would direct their remote infusion patients to a local provider, who might then send them on to a different clinic for the infusion treatment. As a result, Ganger and his staff faced the challenge of keeping track of a patient in the care of a third party.
With the Federal EHR, “We’re seeing what’s happening in that Veteran’s treatment plan, because we’re part of that treatment plan, instead of just sending them out to the community and not really knowing what’s going on.”
Using the Message Center capabilities within the Federal EHR, for example, community care providers and VA Northern Indiana clinicians can more easily share patient information, such as results letters. “Versus, in the legacy system, we had to document progress notes to be able to send a message to a provider, which is not ideal,” Ganger said. “It was kind of trying to put a square peg in a circular hole.”
Also, community care providers can utilize the Federal EHR tools to share prescription orders directly with VA Northern Indiana pharmacies.
The combination of the Federal EHR with the Close to Me program is especially impactful for VA Northern Indiana, where a full one-third of its patients live in the vicinity of South Bend, Indiana—approximately a two-hour drive to the established infusion clinic at the health care system’s Fort Wayne location. Under the program, these remotely located Veterans can get their infusion care at approved community providers or the nearby Jackie Walorski VA Clinic in Mishawaka, Indiana.
Before adopting Close to Me in 2024, VA Northern Indiana providers could only conduct infusion therapies at its VAMC in Fort Wayne. With proper funding, the healthcare system was able to establish new infusion clinics at the Jackie Walorski VA Clinic, as well as the Marion VAMC. Ganger’s pharmacy team now makes the infusion dosages and sends them by courier to the designated clinics. Consequently, Close to Me has saved Veterans and their caregivers in Northern Indiana from driving more than 410,000 miles.
Nationally, Close to Me is administered by the VA National Oncology Program and led by Dr. Jenna Shields, PharmD. As the Federal EHR continues to roll out across the country, Shields believes the benefits experienced by VA Northern Indiana’s infusion patients will reach many more Veterans nationwide.
She explained that the Federal EHR will make it easier for Veterans who want to travel and “live their lives” to still receive maintenance infusion treatments while they’re away from their home clinics. “Once all our facilities are on the same record, it will be smoother to transition patients from one location to another.”