Before Buying New Scheduling System, Va Plans To Kick The Tires

Jack Moore | NextGov | November 17, 2014

Six months after revelations of lengthy wait times faced by veterans seeking care embroiled the Department of Veterans Affairs in scandal, the agency is putting the finishing touches on its proposed shopping list for buying updated scheduling software. A request for proposal for the new scheduling system is “going to hit the street no later than" Nov. 21, VA Chief Information Officer Stephen Warren told reporters during a press call last week.

The agency’s search for a new system is a “free and open” procurement, Warren said. Companies don’t need to have a preexisting relationship with the agency to compete. But vendors interested in submitting their software for consideration should be prepared for a healthy kicking of the tires by VA tech officials -- and frontline schedulers -- before the agency ponies up, officials said...