VA Artificial Intelligence Tech Sprint Seeks Solutions to Health Care Worker Burnout

The Department of Veteran Affairs is seeking entries to its Artificial Intelligence Tech Sprint competition with a $1 million total purse for the top teams creating AI-enabled tools to ease the burden on overworked health care workers. 

Entries can focus on speech-to-text solutions for medical appointments and easier integration of external medical records into patients’ VA records.

Launched on Tuesday, the Tech Sprint aligns with the VA’s goal of helping reduce health care worker burnout and supports the department’s growing care delivery and benefits to veterans. The competition is driven by President Joe Biden’s new executive order on Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence, the VA said. 

The Tech Sprint also pursues the VA’s aim of deploying trustworthy AI solutions to improve the delivery of veterans’ health care and benefits, the department added.

In 2022, the Veterans Health Administration launched the Reduce Employee Burnout and Optimize Organizational Thriving Task Force to promote employee professional satisfaction.

REBOOT’s action plan priorities include increasing investments in mental health resources and ensuring that Veterans Health Administration employees know the available resources and how to access them.