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Good morning, my name is Madhu Agarwal, and it is my privilege to welcome you all today
to the department's Connected Health showcase and as Dr. Tushmit just mentioned this is
our second showcase and it is designed to keep you all better informed about the direction
we are providing, support of best healthcare for our nations veterans.
It is an honor to be part of an organization that continually strives to use technology
and innovation to better connect our veteran patients to their health care teams and I
am extremely excited that you are all here to witness the Connected Health technologies
that will be demonstrated today. Connected Health is more than technologies,
it is about relationships. It in advances programs, disease in life style management
and that often leverage technologies such as Dr. Tushmit had mentioned about devices
that we have been using for a long time with existing cellular networks and in an effort
to improve chronic care. As a practitioner, Connected Health is absolutely
fascinating. By using these technologies, we are maximizing our health care resources
and providing increased and flexible opportunities to our patients, our nations Veterans, to
more closely engage with their healthcare teams and for better self management.
Embracing technologies such as Tela-Health, we have allowed us to bring care much closer
to our patients. Today, Veterans in rural areas are able to receive healthcare and assessments
from their doctors and experts in facilities that are at significant distances. Imagine
getting expert care and counseling for patient with PTSD in the comfort of their own home.
The larger vision of Connected Health can be better understood in the context of other
industries that have made such advancements such as banking, shopping, logistics and personal
communication. Immerging technologies continue to change the overall landscape in these environments
and as you will see today, that health care delivery in VA is following suit.
Connected Health began as in Tela-Medicine programs to address healthcare access and
today they do more than address access; they are now focusing on health care cost, quality
and efficiency. Specifically when it relates to the chronically ill, it is about providing
the right care, in the right place, the right time, delivered by the right person.
VA is looking to becoming the bench mark in US healthcare in aiding the transformation
of the delivery of care to Veterans and families, focusing on unified integrated and personalized
virtual services that seamlessly connect them with a state of the art system of care.
Throughout these Connected Health technologies, we are looking to improve access and empower
patients and their delegates to participate in their healthcare and achieve their goals.
We are also working to enable VA healthcare teams to seamlessly provide and coordinated
services throughout the geography and continuum of care.
It is an exciting time in the healthcare industry and I am delighted that the VA is in the front
lines of developing and utilizing these technologies. Thank you to all that have taking the time
out of your busy schedules to be with us today and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy our
Connected Health showcase. Now it is my privilege to introduce Dr. Robert
Petzel, Under Secretary for Health in the Department of Veterans Health. Dr. Petzel's
vision and leadership has been instrumental in VA's push to be innovative and move VA's
healthcare to new levels. He oversees the healthcare needs of millions of Veterans enrolled
in VHA, the nation's largest integrated healthcare system.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Robert Petzel.