This report provides information regarding suicide mortality for the years 2001–2014. It incorporates the most recent mortality data from the VA/Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Suicide Data Repository and includes information for deaths from suicide among all known Veterans of U.S. military service. Data for the Joint VA/DoD Suicide Data Repository were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics’ National Death Index through collaboration with the DoD, the CDC, and the VA/DoD Joint Suicide Data Repository initiative. Data available from the National Death Index include reports of mortality submitted from vital statistics systems in all 50 U.S. states, New York City, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

SPAN receives data from VHA suicide prevention coordinators relating to suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior of Veterans. Data include relevant historical activities and related medical concerns as reviewed in the Veteran's medical record. Data are submitted to VSSC and are cleaned, processed, and managed by statistical staff and program analysts at the VISN 2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention on behalf of the Mental Health Services.

The Spinal Cord Dysfunction (SCD) module supports the maintenance of local and national registries for the tracking of patients with spinal cord injury and disease from both traumatic and non-traumatic causes. SCD includes features for clinical, management, and research staff. Clinicians benefit from the ability to see profiles of SCD patients, ensure that regular annual exams are completed, and measure patient outcomes. Managers have a suite of reports that reflect the resources needed to care for SCD patients. Researchers have access to a national registry for all Veteran SCD patients and their associated health care events.

The Research and Development Information System (RDIS) is the Veterans Affairs Central Office budgetary and project data repository for managing the VA Research and Development Program. The RDIS contains data collected from Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs) on all VA research projects. It stores information on VAMC investigators, project budget allocations and expenditures, initial project abstracts, progress reports and research space. VA Medical Centers collect and submit the data using an application called electronic Project Management and Information System (ePROMISE). That data is submitted to Veterans Affairs Central Office and becomes a component of RDIS. ePROMISE collects data from over 150 VA facilities (including 75 VAMCs). VA funded, non-VA funded and non-funded research proposals are reviewed and must be approved by the Research and Development (R&D) Committee and relevant R&D Subcommittees (Human Studies, Animal Use, and/or Biosafety) at each VAMC. Basic information on research projects approved by the VAMC Research and Development committee is transmitted to the RDIS, which tracks the life cycle of these projects.

The Residency Allocation Database is used to determine allocation of funds for residency programs offered by Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMCs). Information for the database comes from any VAMC that has made a funding request for its residency programs. The Office of Academic Affiliations distributes worksheets and memos are sent to participating VAMCs. VAMC personnel enter the information electronically into the database housed at the Academic Information Management Center (AIMC) located in St. Louis, Missouri. The data entry and collection process is done annually beginning in September and ending in December. The main user of this database is the Office of Academic Affiliations.

The Real Property Project Tracking System (RPPTS), formerly known as the Lease/Project Tracking (LEASE) database, contains information about lease and land projects that are handled by the Office of Construction & Facilities Management. Through a delegation of leasing authority from General Services Administration (GSA), VA directly leases its space. Information collected includes type of space, type of lease, proposed space dimensions and budget, type of land acquisition, brief description of the project, acquisition milestone dates, and project manager's contact information. The information is provided and entered in by the responsible project manager. RPPTS was developed by the VA Headquarters Automation Center in collaboration with Real Property Management Service to provide on-line access to information concerning VA's direct leasing projects.

The Resident Assessment Instrument/Minimum Data Set (RAI/MDS) is a comprehensive assessment and care planning process used by the nursing home industry since 1990 as a requirement for nursing home participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The RAI/MDS provides data for monitoring changes in resident status that are consistent and reliable over time. The VA commitment to quality propelled the implementation of the RAI/MDS in its nursing homes now known as VA Community Living Centers (CLC). In addition to providing consistent clinical information, the RAI/MDS can be used as a measure of both quality and resource utilization, thereby serving as a benchmark for quality and cost data within the VA as well as with community based nursing facilities. Workload based on RAI/MDS can be calculated electronically by the interactions of the elements of the MDS data and grouped into 53 categories referred to as Resource Utilization Groups (RUG-IV). Residents are assessed quarterly. The data is grouped for analysis at the Austin Information Technology Center (AITC). Conversion to electronic data entry and transmission to the AITC was completed system-wide by year-end 2000. In 2010, the Centeres for Medicare and Medicaide Services released a significantly upgraded version, MDS 3.0, to begin to be implemented on October 1, 2011 in VHA CLCs. Training is underway currently. The MDS 3.0 will generate a new set of Quality Indicators and Quality Monitors as well the RUGs will increase to 64 RUGs from the current 53 RUG groups.

The Report of VA Medical Training Programs Database is used to track medical center health services trainees and VA physicians serving as faculty. The database also tracks the number of U.S. and international medical residents on-duty at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC). Information in the database comes from all VAMCs that have residency programs. The Office of Academic Affiliations distributes worksheets and memos to participating VAMCs annually. VAMC personnel enter the information electronically into the database located at the Academic Information Management Center (AIMC) in St. Louis, Missouri. The main user of this database is the Office of Academic Affiliations which uses the reports from the system to assist in its decision making.

The Remote Order Entry System (ROES) is the front end of the Denver Acquisition & Logistics Center's (DALC) order fulfillment production system. ROES is used by VA and Department of Defense clinicians to place orders for certain types of medical products and services that are maintained under contract by the DALC. The most substantial product line handled through ROES is hearing aids. The ROES application and database are tailored for efficiency in ordering the specified devices and other items available from the DALC, and tracking them upon issue to an individual patient when appropriate. Other product lines handled through ROES include hearing aid accessories and batteries, cochlear implants, prosthetic items, aids for the visually impaired, and assistive devices. A line of service provided by the DALC and facilitated by ROES is that of hearing aid repair. The ROES application and database tie together the DALC enterprise business functions of contracting/acquisition management, order fulfillment, distribution management, finance, and product life cycle support. Extensive order tracking, serialized device registration, patient/device history, and sales/financial reporting are also supported by the database.

The report uses 2012 Amercian Community Survey data to compare the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of Veterans and non-Veterans.