>>Text: The Initiative to End Diabetic Limb Loss Veterans Health Administration's Innovation Ecosystem
>>Text: 1 in 4 Veterans suffer from diabetes.
>>Text: In 2020 diabetic foot ulcers accounted for over 80% of non-traumatic amputations costing $3.2 billion.
>>Text: Veterans with DFUs face a 5 year mortality rate of 43%
>>Suzanne Shirley, LCSW, Director, Community Engagement and Fellowship, VHA Innovation Ecosystem:
The VA's the largest integrated healthcare system in the country. We serve over 9 million Veterans.
52,000 patients with diabetic foot ulcers that we treat every year.
It’s a $3.2 billion problem and a devastating problem for the Veterans who experience ulcers and limb loss.
>>Jasper Brannan, Veteran: I could lose my legs. I could lose my feet. And I appreciate what the VA is doing here to
help me stay on track.
>>Suzanne Shirley: One of the really exciting things about the VHA Innovation Ecosystem is our ability to be agile.
Through the programs that we have that have developed over the course of many years, we have
an operational infrastructure for innovation that spans across the entire enterprise.
>>Ryan Vega, MD, MSHA, Chief Officer, Healthcare Innovation and Learning, VHA Innovation Ecosystyem: The ecosystem really centers on some core
principles and one of those is strategic partnerships.
Recognizing that VA cannot do innovation or innovation health care alone.
We have to have a robust ecosystem which requires us to partner with folks in the private sector.
>>Suzanne Shirley: We have 39 medical centers where we have innovation directors and innovation programming
where we leverage the insight and the feedback of Veterans and their providers
in designing and developing new solutions to improve care.
Podimetrics developed a solution to this problem.
I wanted to explore further what that would mean for Veterans in the VA.
We pulled together this team of key stakeholders. The director of the Prevention of Amputation for
Veterans Everywhere program. Chief podiatrists in the VA. A number of researchers and clinicians.
The Director of Health Equity. And we launched the Initiative to End Diabetic Limb Loss.
And we did this by navigating the organization,
overcoming challenges and barriers, and streamlining the care model that would
incorporate remote temperature monitoring into the prevention of amputation care for Veterans.
>>Jon Bloom, MD, Co-Founder & CEO, Podimetrics: Podimetrics has developed a virtual care support system for the prevention
of diabetic amputations. Probably one of the most devastating complications of the disease.
The system has two parts. First is an FDA-cleared SmartMat that users just steps on for 20 seconds
a day in the comfort of their own home. Doesn’t require internet or a smartphone to use.
And the second part is the remote monitoring team that then works with VA clinicians.
If we see any signs of developing wounds or problems in the foot, we can begin
care earlier. So it's simple preventative care as opposed to more extensive treatment care.
>>Ryan Vega: I think Veterans are incredibly vested in their care. And they’re vested in the long-term sort
of value proposition as we think of it. They want to remain functional to the best
of their ability. So these are individuals who are engaged and they’re willing to adopt
new types of technologies or new modalities of care delivery
if they believe it will enable them to have a more fruitful and productive life.
>>Jasper Brannan: Living with diabetes is a life-changing thing.
Since I use the Smart Mat, I have been able to be on top of any issues that may arise.
>>Jonathan Brantley, DPM, DABPM, DABWM, CLT, Chief, Podiatric Medicine and Surgery, Central Virginia VA Healthcare System:
The Podimetrics therapy has actually been very very instrumental in providing me an opportunity to
essentially deliver a very convenient mechanism of remotely monitoring these
diabetic foot ulcer patients. And what it allows me to do is literally alert them prior to them
having what’s called an integument failure. This is done even before they can perceive
visually that they’re having some type of issue on the plantar aspect of their feet.
>>Robert McNeil, Veteran: It’s part of my daily routine. I get up, I pull out my Smart Mat from under my bed, I stand on it.
It takes about 30 seconds. It displays the weekday and if you miss a day, it will display that as
well so you know instantly you've missed a day. And so will everybody else that reads the mat.
>>Suzanne Shirley: We’ve seen incredible outcomes. We’ve seen 97% early detection of diabetic foot ulcers up to 5
weeks before they would otherwise present. We’ve seen 40% reduction in Emergency Room visits.
And 51% reduction in hospital admissions. We’ve seen a near elimination of diabetic foot ulcer
and the most exciting outcome that we’ve seen, and we’ve seen this across the board in all patients
participating in remote temperature monitoring, is the complete elimination of major amputation.
And what we’re finding is that 87% of patients are using this mat almost daily,
which is exactly what makes it effective in prevention.
Any veteran who has had a history of ulcers or minor amputation can go to his or her VA medical
center now and enroll in remote temperature monitoring and see the benefits of prevention.
>>Ryan Vega: We have to be guided and directed by that idea of serving our nation’s Veterans.
Providing world-class care to not only Veterans, but to their beneficiaries
and to their caregivers. And so it’s not always about technology, it’s not always about process,
it’s about sometimes simple solutions to problems that can improve the well-being,
whether it’s mental health or whether it’s their actual physical health.
In the case of Podimetrics, we see just a unique and very practical solution that has a profound
impact on the Veterans’ lives. So not just saving their legs from potential amputation,
but think of the 5, 10, 15 years that follows for that individual having
the ability to not only be functional, but to enjoy a great quality of life.
>>Jasper Brannan: I’m able to take walks on the beach with my wife. I’m going to be able to keep my feet,
Dr. Brantley said that. I wouldn’t be here today if I didn’t have the care and concern from the
people of the VA. They’ve changed my life for the better because I’m here to watch my family grow.
>>Graphic: VA Logo and Seal