The Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation will award the Department of Veterans Affairs $4.5 million over the next three years to launch a national teleoncology center to provide virtual care for veterans living in rural areas.
The VA Center for Strategic Partnerships facilitated the grant, which will use VA's telehealth infrastructure to allow veterans to access telehealth oncology platforms under Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation's Cancer Disparities Initiative. Through the partnership, veterans who undergo genetic sequencing will have access to genetic counseling and participation in clinical trials through telehealth.
The teleoncology program will use VA's Video Connect telehealth platform, which currently conducts more than 20,000 virtual appointments each day, according to the June 3 news release.
VHA and Bristol Myers Squibb and Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation will launch the program at the virtual American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting Aug. 8-10.