Veterans Affairs Committee

Veterans Health Administration  (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States:

• The VHA health care system has an annual budget of approximately $68 billion.

• VHA oversees the delivery of care to more than 9 million enrolled Veterans.

• VHA employs more than 371,000 health care professionals and support staff at 1,298 health care facilities, including 171 VA Medical Centers and 1,113 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics).

The Veterans Health Administration is the nation's largest provider of graduate medical education:

• $1.78 billion in direct fiscal support.

• 11,000 full-time positions with over 43,000 residents trained at VA facilities.

• 113,000 health profession trainees.

• A major contributor to medical and scientific research.

• Nearly 16,000 affiliated medical faculty are an integral part of the VHA community.

Contact VeteransAffairs@acr.org with your inquiries

Annual Meeting 2021 Speakers:

• Introduction to the American College of Radiology GSER VA Committee – Ian Weissman, DO, FACR (0:00)
• Implementing Lung Screening Programs through a Collaborative Learning Network in the Veterans Health Administration – Lucy Spalutto, MD, MPH (9:28)
• How Taking a Customer Experience Approach Improved Veterans’ Trust in VA Healthcare – Lee Becker (20:11)
• Innovation and Collaboration in Radiology in the Department of Veterans Affairs – Eliot Siegel, MD, FACR, FSIIM (33:46)

ACR persuaded the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to abandon a proposal that would have allowed advanced practice nurses and certified nurse practitioners to interpret advanced medical imaging studies. Learn more about the Radiology Advocacy Network.

The online member community Engage provides a forum through which VA radiologists connect with a network of 37,000 radiology colleagues to exchange knowledge and share solutions. VAROCKS is a VA radiologist-focused discussion forum on Engage .

ACR provides discounts to VA radiologists for continuing medical education at the ACR Education Center, Radiology Leadership Institute and the case image review opportunity called Continuous Professional Improvement. There is a substantial ACR membership dues reduction for VA radiologists.

The ACR Veterans Affairs Committee was successful in securing preferred pricing for VA radiologists through MRI Online/Medality.

There are opportunities for VA Radiologists to serve on committees in operational and specialty areas and pursue leadership training:

• ACR Radiology Leadership Institute (RLI)
• Institute for Learning, Education and Development (ILEAD)

There are networking opportunities to mentor to early career VA radiologists, receive mentoring from a senior VA radiologist and connect with VA Chiefs of radiology, academic chairs and private practice leaders. 

The VHA Innovators Network (iNET) within the VHA Innovation Ecosystem launched in 2015 to build and empower a community of VHA employees who actively move VA forward using innovation to better serve Veterans and their families.

In 2022, the American College of Radiology (ACR) acknowledged the extraordinary accomplishments of the ACR-VA Subcommittee Members (since the creation and development of the ACR-VA Subcommittee in 2017) and elevated the Subcommittee to a Committee.

In support of increase the access to cancer screenings, the VA-PALS (Partnership to Increase Access to Lung Screening)  was formed to increase the veterans’ access to lung screening. There are 1,200 veterans diagnosed with non-small lung cancer each year among 17 participating VA medical centers with a Stage II-IV disease at presentation at 45-65%. By 2021, over 20,000 veterans had been screened for lung cancer at VA-PALS sites.

In support of VA's patient focused mission through its Veterans Experience Office  (VEO), the American College of Radiology (ACR) Veterans Affairs Committee in collaboration  with ACR's Patient- and Family-Centered Outreach Committee focused attention on the exceptional work of the VEO.