Project ATLAS (Advancing Telehealth through Local Access Stations) Telehealth Care Provider Survey

Project ATLAS Telehealth

Care Provider Survey

OMB No. 2900-0770
Estimated Burden: 25 minutes

Expiration Date: 9/30/2020

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995: This information is collected in accordance with section 3507 of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. Accordingly, we may not conduct or sponsor, and you are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a valid OMB number. We anticipate that the time expended by all individuals who complete this survey will average 3 minutes for Individuals or Household and 3 minutes for Federal Government. This includes the time it will take to follow instructions, gather the necessary facts, and respond to questions asked. Customer satisfaction is used to gauge customer perceptions of VA services, as well as customer expectations and desires. The results of this telephone/mail survey will lead to improvements in the quality of service delivery by helping to shape the direction and focus of services and the patient experience. Participation in this survey is voluntary, and failure to respond will have no impact on benefits to which you may be entitled.

BACKGROUND

Project ATLAS (Advancing Telehealth through Local Access Stations) is part of the VA’s Anywhere to Anywhere Telehealth initiative. Its goal is to enhance the accessibility of VA health care and help bridge the digital divide by establishing comfortable, private locations in communities where Veterans often have long travel times to VA facilities or poor connectivity at home. ATLAS offers Veterans a convenient space to connect with their VA health care team through video telehealth.

The VA Office of Strategic Partnerships, in collaboration with VHA Telehealth Services and the field based Project ATLAS team, has established partnerships with public and private organizations in the community, including:

• Walmart: The Walmart-VA pilot will be a 12-month pilot at 5 Walmart locations beginning in 2019.

• Veteran Service Organizations: Philips has partnered with the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion to offer VA telehealth care at select locations around the country with telehealth equipment donated by Philips.

Initially, Veterans seeking care at ATLAS sites will have the opportunity to receive mental health, limited primary care, and other counseling type services based on local facility direction through a basic video telehealth set-up. No assisted physical exam or “tele-presentation” will be offered in the initial phase. Veterans’ personal peripheral devices (e.g. Bluetooth stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs) may be used for these encounters, but currently no clinical equipment will be present at ATLAS sites for shared Veteran use. No VA employees will be based at these sites however, the ATLAS site may have employees or volunteers present to assist Veterans with their telehealth encounter.

As part of this effort, we would like your input from the perspective of a person who is critical to connecting our Veterans to the care options that most suit their needs. The feedback you, and others across the country provide will be used to hone Telehealth provision, as well as the training materials and modalities that go along with it. Thank you for your valuable help.

SURVEY

Demographic Information:

1. I work for VA in a (Drop-Down Options: VA Medical Center (Urban), VA Medical Center (Rural), CBOC (Urban), CBOC (Rural), CBOC (Highly Rural), Other)

2. I am a (Drop-Down Options: MD/PA/NP, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, RN, LPN, Scheduler, Nutritionist, Social Worker, Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Other)

3. I am primarily involved in (Drop-Down Options: PACT Care, Specialty Care, Mental Health Care, Ancillary Services, Other) provision

Survey Questions:

1. How comfortable are you offering Telehealth services to Veterans? (Please respond on a scale of 1 to 5; 1 being not at all and 5 being very comfortable with Telehealth options offered by the VA.)

2. What excites you about Telehealth care?

3. What would cause you to hesitate before offering Telehealth services to Veterans?

4. What might help you utilize Telehealth more?

5. What thoughts do you have about providing Telehealth care to a Veteran in a private space, such as a Walmart or a VFW, under the ATLAS program as described above?

6. Did you have any prior knowledge about the VA ATLAS program prior to taking this survey? If so, how did you learn about it?

7. What resources would support you in adopting new care modalities into your clinical practice?

Thank you for participating in our survey. Your input is greatly appreciated and will provide information critical to making sure that staff like you and your care teams receive the information needed to make critical decisions about Telehealth care.

If you have any questions, or would like to provide any further information, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. We are happy to hear from you.

Comments concerning the burden estimate of this information collection and any suggestions for reducing the burden also may be sent to us at [email protected].