Four hundred hackers gather in Tampa to improve Veteran care

Tampa VA hosted the 2025 Veterans Health Hackathon in conjunction with The American Legion National Convention this August. Powered by Microsoft Artificial Intelligence Technology and in collaboration with the VHA Innovation Ecosystem, The American Legion and MIT Hacking Medicine, the Veterans Health Hackathon brought more than 400 participants from more than 40 states, Guam and Puerto Rico together for one purpose: make health care for Veterans better.

In just three days, hackers identified 282 different problems, formed 51 interdisciplinary teams, and spent 4,980+ hours hacking. Teams focused on three tracks: Timely Access to Care, Optimizing Enterprise Operations and Improving Community Care Coordination. After 81 feedback sessions, 17 independent judges then evaluated each concept, with nine winning teams selected to move forward in the Veterans Health Venture Studio pipeline for further validation and prototyping.

A new and growing initiative

Last year's inaugural Hackathon was an instant success. Seven teams completed the full Veterans Health Venture Studio (VHVS) lifecycle, including the initiative's Make-a-thon and Accelerator phases, and are now preparing their prototypes for piloting at VA facilities.

Waco Hoover, Marine Corps Veteran and chair of The American Legion's "Be the One" initiative, emphasized the importance of the program, sharing, "The Veterans Health Venture Studio is one of the most innovative and important programs I've seen VA-or any branch of government-launch in a long time. It's about doing things differently, cutting through bureaucracy, and tapping into the ideas and expertise of those closest to the challenges."

More than 900 people applied to the Hackathon this year, nearly double the applicants from last year. Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 (VISN 8) Interim Network Director and Army Veteran David Dunning shared that the overwhelming enthusiasm for this event shows how much people inside and out of VA want to improve this system. The Hackathon, he said, "gives the frontline workers and the people a voice in how to make things better."

Building a pipeline for Veteran-focused innovation

The VHVS, founded by James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital Chief of Innovation Dr. Indra Sandal, led the program for its inaugural year and continuation this year. Sandal hosts the now-annual Hackathon as the first step in a year-long innovation pipeline as a public-private collaboration, pulling the best resources, tools and talent from inside and out of VA to make a lasting impact.

Veterans made up 40% of the Hackathon applicants, and their voices were included at every stage of the process. Sandal noted that "Solutions that are going to come out of this will be spread across VA enterprise. Someday, somewhere, a Veteran will be able to say proudly that they are using a solution that they themselves helped create."

Attendees were able to access a full suite of Microsoft AI tools to test their ideas and run simulations. Microsoft also offered 20 technical experts who delivered more than 125 hours of one-on-one coaching and mentorship. Retired Maj. Gen. Chris Cortez, now Vice President of Military Affairs and creator of the Microsoft Software and System Academy (MSSA) at Microsoft, also shared inspiring keynote remarks reflecting on his military and innovation experience.

This year's Hackathon focused problem-solving efforts on three tracks:

1. Timely Access to Care-accelerating access and reducing the time from request to care delivery.
2. Optimizing Costs and Efficiency-reimagining core operational systems to reduce waste, improve resource utilization, and reinvest savings into better Veteran care.
3. Improving Community Care Coordination-strengthening coordination between VA and community partners to preserve continuity of care for Veterans.

Building community locally and nationally

One of the keynote speakers at the Hackathon was Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who had also attended the inaugural Hackathon and expressed both astonishment and support for the event's growth in just one year. She shared: "I'm very proud that it's taking place in the city of Tampa. These solutions will not only be of value to our Veterans but will literally save lives."

Rachel Ceria, a nurse with the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System, traveled 22-hours and 8,000 miles from Guam to Tampa for the event. Her team's winning solution uses AI to triage requests in seconds instead of minutes and streamlines community care to offer Veterans faster access to critical care.

She shared, "I feel like everybody should apply to the hackathon because you just never know whether your thought or idea could eventually become the next big thing. It could be as simple as having the passion and the drive to make innovation happen for Veterans."