VA Providing Precision Cancer Care

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) https://www.va.gov is teaming with the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation (Foundation) to build new programs to enable VA oncology specialists to provide veterans access to precision cancer care regardless of where they live.

The Foundation is providing the VA $4.5 million in grant funds over three years to help establish a national tele-oncology center to help reach veterans living in rural communities. Also, the foundation’s grant funding will be used to create a human centered design training program.

The VA’s Center for Strategic Partnerships facilitating the grant, will use VA’s telehealth infrastructure which will allow veterans to have access to tele-oncology platforms under the Foundation’s Global Cancer Disparities Initiative.

Veterans will now have access to genetic counseling if they are undergoing sequencing, plus veteran oncology patients will be offered a range of potentially life-saving clinical trials even if they live a distance away from a VA medical center.

VA Secretary Robert Wilkie reports, “The VA-Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation partnership will build on the VHA’s recent telehealth expansion to establish a leading-edge hub for tele-oncology which will serve as a model for oncology specialists in every healthcare system.”

“The Foundation will work with the VA to accelerate the growth of tele-oncology,” said Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, President John L. Damonti. “By developing, implementing, and standardizing workflow processes, this project will expedite the expansion of a model for delivering specialized oncology care in a virtual setting. This will help cancer care teams provide a much better patient experience in a virtual care environment.”

For more information go to https://www.cancer.va.gov/CANCER/index.asp on the VA and the Foundation’s multimillion grant to help veterans with cancer in rural areas.

Go to https://bms.com/about-us/responsibility/bristol-myers-squibb-foundation.html for more information on the Foundation.