Leveraging IE to Enable Behavioral Healthcare Success

According to the American Psychological Association, 20% of the veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet many of them seek help outside of the VA system or do not seek help at all.  This has prompted a call-to-action to transition to the Behavior Health Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) which focuses a team of healthcare providers around the patient to ensure the proper care is provided, and increase patient satisfaction, access to care, and the chances of patients completing care without getting “lost in the system.”  However, in order to successfully implement this new model, a new clinic facility was desired for a local VA market with additional consideration from an industrial engineering perspective on layout and process innovation.

This presentation will outline a 3-month project that designed the layout and implementation plan for a new concept VA Behavioral Health Clinic. In addition to an overview of the project and lessons learned, this session will cover how this opportunity came about through the American Red Cross and a creative way for employers to support employees passionate about giving their time and skills beyond typical “outside-of-work” volunteering.  Katherine Groot recently completed her Fisher Global Service Fellowship as an American Red Cross volunteer, and was placed within the Central Ohio VA Ambulatory Care Center.