VA Names Team Guidehouse a Finalist in $20M Mission Daybreak Grand Challenge to Reduce Veteran Suicides

WASHINGTON—September 20, 2022—Guidehouse, a leading global provider of consulting services to public sector and commercial clients, is proud to announce that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has named the firm one of 30 finalists in Mission Daybreak — a $20 million challenge designed to help VA develop new suicide prevention strategies for Veterans.

In Mission Daybreak, Guidehouse partnered with Red Hat and Philip Held, Ph.D. of Rush University Medical Center, as part of “Team Guidehouse.” As a finalist, Team Guidehouse will receive $250,000 and advance to Phase 2 of the challenge.

Team Guidehouse is helping VA and community providers identify Veterans at risk for suicide by combining VA’s suicide prevention risk model, REACH-VET, with (in)Sight Health Catalyst. Recognized on Fast Company's Best Workplaces for Innovators 2022 list, (in)Sight Health Catalyst leverages social media data and social determinants of health and connects it in real-time with VA’s new electronic health record system. This data also supports building community-based and human-centered programs so Veterans can thrive where they are.

For more than 25 years, Guidehouse has been a proud and trusted VA partner, supporting its mission of providing exceptional healthcare that improves the health and well-being of America's Veterans and their families.

During Phase 2 of the challenge, finalists will join a virtual accelerator program designed to help them create ambitious, but achievable roadmaps for prototyping, iteration, testing, and evaluation. Technology partners supporting the accelerator include Amazon and Microsoft.

In November 2022, finalists will present their solutions to key stakeholders, investors, and partners during Demo Day, a live pitch event. Phase 2 will award $11.5 million in prizes:

• Two first-place winners will each receive $3 million.
• Three second-place winners will each receive $1 million.
• Five third-place winners will each receive $500,000.

Visit missiondaybreak.net for more about the challenge. Subscribe to the Mission Daybreak newsletter to follow the finalists’ progress and receive updates on Demo Day. For more information, please see VA's Safe Messaging Best Practices fact sheet or visit ReportingOnSuicide.org for important guidance on how to communicate about suicide.

Guidehouse brings innovative solutions to help healthcare organizations modernize and innovate healthcare services, finances, and operations. Ranked 2022’s second-largest healthcare management consulting firm by Modern Healthcare, Guidehouse helps providers, government agencies, life sciences companies, employers, payers, and other organizations solve the industry’s most complex challenges.

Guidehouse is honored to be named a Military Friendly® Employer for creating a sustainable and meaningful environment for the military community; to have received the 2020 HIRE Vets Gold Medallion Award for recruiting, hiring, and retaining Veterans; and to have earned the prestigious Seven Seals Award, signifying its commitment to staff members who actively serve in the National Guard and Reserve. 

About Guidehouse

Guidehouse is a leading global provider of consulting services to the public sector and commercial markets, with broad capabilities in management, technology, and risk consulting. By combining our public and private sector expertise, we help clients address their most complex challenges and navigate significant regulatory pressures focusing on transformational change, business resiliency, and technology-driven innovation. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing, and digital services, we create scalable, innovative solutions that help our clients outwit complexity and position them for future growth and success. The company has more than 13,000 professionals in over 50 locations globally. Guidehouse is a Veritas Capital portfolio company, led by seasoned professionals with proven and diverse expertise in traditional and emerging technologies, markets, and agenda-setting issues driving national and global economies. For more information, please visit www.guidehouse.com.

About Red Hat

Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open-source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to deliver reliable and high-performing Linux, hybrid cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. Red Hat helps customers integrate new and existing IT applications, develop cloud-native applications, standardize on our industry-leading operating system, and automate, secure, and manage complex environments. Award-winning support, training, and consulting services make Red Hat a trusted adviser to the Fortune 500. As a strategic partner to cloud providers, system integrators, application vendors, customers, and open-source communities, Red Hat can help organizations prepare for the digital future. For more information, please visit www.redhat.com/en.

About Philip Held, Ph.D.

Dr. Held is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Rush University Medical Center. Dr. Held is also the research director of the Road Home Program: Center for Veterans and Their Families at Rush and chair of the Warrior Care Network® Network Evaluation Committee, where he leads various research initiatives to improve clinical care for service members and Veterans, as well as their families. Dr. Held’s research combines novel clinical treatments with advanced statistics and analytics, such as machine learning, with the goal of further tailoring treatments and matching an individual with the type and length of treatment in which they are most likely to succeed given their background and experiences. www.rushu.rush.edu/faculty/philip-held-phd.