Veterans Health Make-a-thon advances innovative solutions

Driving innovation, improving Veteran care

The 2025 Veterans Health Make-a-thon marks a pivotal phase in the Veterans Health Venture Studio (VHVS) pipeline, a visionary program founded and led by Dr. Indra Sandal, chief of Innovation at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital. Building on the momentum of the highly successful 2025 Veterans Health Hackathon, a dynamic group of innovation teams has been selected to advance promising solutions that tackle critical challenges in Veteran health care while strengthening collaboration across VA and partner organizations nationwide.

“The hackathon has been an incredible experience—more than I expected, said Eugene Fisco,” a VA employee hacker and Air Force Veteran. “It brings together diverse teams from within and outside VA to collaborate, share expertise and develop innovative ideas focused on delivering better care and truly meeting Veterans where they are. It’s inspiring to see so many people thinking outside the box to improve patient outcomes and create meaningful change for Veterans like me.”

Collaboration driving success

The Veterans Health Make-a-thon is powered by a robust coalition of collaborators, including VA leadership, VA’s Office of Healthcare Innovation and Learning, The American Legion and Microsoft. At the heart of the Make-a-thon, Microsoft powers innovation through expert training and mentorship, fueling the innovators’ journeys to transform Veteran care.

Waco Hoover, Marine Veteran and chair of The American Legion, highlights the significance of the program, when he shared: “The VHVS is one of the more innovative and important programs I’ve seen VA or any branch of government launch in some time. It taps into the advantage of piloting at scale within an organization and getting real-time feedback from clinicians, nurses and staff—something startups rarely get.”

Across the Make-a-thon, collaborators engage with Advisory Council members who guide the strategic direction of VHVS, while faculty and subject matter experts work closely with teams to refine and enhance their solutions. This collective expertise and support ensure innovations are not only brought to life but are also positioned for meaningful, scalable impact throughout VA’s system.

Veterans Health Venture Studio: Fueling innovation from ideation to impact

The Veterans Health Venture Studio is an engine designed to develop and sustain a pipeline of innovative projects that address VA’s most pressing needs. The studio’s three-fold mission focuses on People Development, Technology Development and Community Development, aiming to build innovation capacity, launch new products and foster public-private collaborations.

After the successful completion of the 2024 Venture Studio program, which saw seven final teams create working prototypes, the program kicked off the 2025 cohort with the Hackathon in August. Of the 51 concepts developed at the Hackathon, 17 teams were selected to join the Make-a-thon (December 2025 – March 2026), where they will advance their concepts into technical solutions ready to prototype. A subset will progress to the Accelerator, working with technical experts to create functional prototypes prepared for piloting within VA.

The 2025 Veterans Health Make-a-thon is a critical milestone in this journey, combining innovation curriculum, a development bootcamp and a demo day to refine and advance selected projects.

The 2025 Veterans Health Hackathon: A launchpad for innovation

The 2025 Hackathon convened over 350 participants—including Veterans, clinicians, caregivers and technologists—across 17 VISNs and more than 100 VA and non-VA organizations. Over four days, interdisciplinary teams collaborated intensively to develop AI-driven solutions aligned with VHA strategic priorities.

Judged by a panel of 17 experts, nine teams were named winners for their exceptional concepts in three transformative tracks:

• Track 1: Timely Access to Care: Bravo Zulu Health, SPEED Access Care, CareBridge
• Track 2: Optimize Enterprise-wide Costs and Operational Efficiency: VA Resource Allocation Mapping (VA R.A.M.), autoVAte, CareNav
• Track 3: Improve Community Care Coordination: Mission Fax Possible, Laser Focus, Team Care Continuity

In addition to the nine winning teams, all projects were rigorously assessed across key metrics, with eight additional teams selected by VA leadership to advance to the Make-a-thon, bringing the total number of teams progressing to 17.

Team selection and make-up

The selected teams showcase a diverse range of VA expertise and roles, including nurses, social workers, pharmacists, health system specialists, occupational therapists and entrepreneurs. Representing 13 of 18 VISNs and 22 VA Medical Centers, the cohort includes 68 VA employee Makers, 28 community Makers, and 23 Veterans or active military members from 26 states and territories—reflecting a truly nationwide commitment to advancing Veteran care.

Notable teams and projects include:

Timely Access to Care

• Bravo Zulu Health: Consolidates Veteran appointments and test scheduling into a single portal, reducing missed care and cancellations.
• SPEED Access Care: Uses AI to screen for high-risk symptoms, preventing delayed diagnoses and guiding provider routing.
• CareBridge: Empowers Veterans and providers with real-time access to care plans, discharge summaries, and chatbot support.
• Referral IQ: Enhances consult completeness through AI pre-validation against service line rules.
• Info Not Data: Halves chart review time using OCR technology to make scanned records searchable.
• PIVOT: Reduces no-shows and boosts engagement via an AI hub enabling appointment rescheduling across preferred channels.

Optimize Enterprise-wide Costs and Operational Efficiency

• VA Resource Allocation Mapping (VA R.A.M.): Tracks medical supply inventories using AI to limit waste from surpluses and expirations.
• autoVAte: Streamlines ePAS workflows with AI-driven assessment, triaging, and auto-approval.
• CareNav: Reduces misdiagnosis by suggesting CPT/ICD codes from clinical notes using AI.
• Exit Strategy: Improves discharge planning and clinical capacity through a real-time dashboard.
• Improving Outcomes: Utilizes a digital CHF tool to promote adherence and monitor patient weight, reducing readmissions.

Improve Community Care Coordination

• Mission Fax Possible: Automates community care records management to reduce treatment delays.
• Laser Focus: Increases referral transparency through AI document intelligence scanning and validation of high-risk forms.
• Care Continuity: Provides Veteran-focused tracking with real-time views, AI alerts, and secure messaging.
• Care Ninjas: Integrates a scalable mobile and MyHealtheVet referral tracker to build Veteran trust.
• Care Connect: Streamlines prescribing with pharmacist-led, standardized intake and secure messaging.
• Shadow PACT: Preserves care continuity by scanning provider notes with AI for clinical triggers and auto-generating information packets.

The road ahead: Outcomes and impact

The Make-a-thon is designed to:

• Align leadership and teams to pursue high-potential projects.
• Advance projects toward functional prototypes integrated with VA systems like CPRS and OIT.
• Strengthen the health care innovation community through mentorship and collaboration.
• Prepare teams for pilot testing and scaling within VA medical centers and program offices.

With over 4,980 person-hours of training already delivered through mentorship and active learning, these teams exemplify VA’s commitment to innovation that improves Veteran health outcomes and operational efficiency.