Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
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iEHR Aims To Be Agile And Open
Agile techniques have gained importance as the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments try to quickly launch the integrated electronic health record, or iEHR. With more than 100 scrum teams working at once, it's a lot to coordinate, said Barclay Butler, director of the DoD-VA interagency program office. Read More »
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iEHR Time Frame 'Optimistic And Uncertain'
The 4 to 6 years Veterans Affairs Department officials have projected as the time necessary to build out a nationwide integrated electronic health record with the Defense Department is "both optimistic and uncertain," the Government Accountability Office says iEHR officials told them. Read More »
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iEHR Would Get A Shorter Leash, Under House NDAA Amendment
An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2014 (H.R. 1960), which passed June 14, would impose reporting requirements on the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments' integrated electronic health record project, as well as stand up an advisory panel to provide additional oversight. Read More »
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If Shutdown Persists, VA Will Cut Off Claims Payments To Vets On Nov. 1
If the government shutdown persists until late October, the Veterans Affairs Department will cut off disability, pension, compensation and education claims to 5.18 million veterans, surviving spouses and children on Nov. 1, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki told a hearing of the House VA Committee Wednesday. Read More »
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Ignore Those Rumors: The White House Doesn’t Oppose IT Reform, Lawmaker Says
The perception among federal technology watchers that U.S. Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel and other officials from the White House’s Office of Management and Budget oppose a plan to overhaul government IT spending is off the mark, a co-sponsor of that bill says. Read More »
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Improved Routine Access To Health Data Ensures Disaster Preparedness
State health information exchanges can best prepare for emergencies by ensuring that health information is readily accessible during routine care, concludes a report (.pdf) from the Southeast Regional HIT-HIE Collaboration published in July. But the report finds day-to-day health information sharing is a challenge, as individual state's efforts and HIE implementation timelines vary considerably. Read More »
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Improving Quality of Care: How the VA Outpaces Other Systems in Delivering Patient Care
In its 2001 report Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Institute of Medicine called for systematic reform to address shortfalls in U.S. health care quality. Recommended reforms included developing medical informatics infrastructure, a performance tracking system, and methods to ensure provider and manager accountability...How does the VA measure up against other U.S. health care providers? Read More »
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In Capitol Hill testimony, Baker touts open-source advantage
VA technology chief Roger Baker made a spirited defense of the VA's plan to save money and improve its own EHR system through an open-source EHR improvement effort. Read More »
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In Hurricane’s Wake, Decisions Not To Evacuate Hospitals Raise Questions
Now, in the late evening hours, the worst-case scenario was unfolding at the main campus of NYU's Langone Medical Center in Manhattan, which had lost much of its backup power at the height of the storm. Could North Shore-LIJ dispatch ambulances from its Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City to pick up four critically ill babies from the neo-natal intensive care unit? New York City hospital and nursing home patients and their loved ones might reasonably have believed they were safe as Hurricane Sandy approached. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had exempted hospitals and nursing homes in low-lying "Zone A" areas of the city from his pre-storm evacuation order. Much thought and planning had gone into the decision to "shelter in place."
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Increasing Health IT, EHR Investment Runs Up Practice Costs
New data from MGMA shows that increasing health IT and EHR investments are running up major practice costs. Health IT and EHR investments are costing physician-owned multispecialty practices thousands of dollars per physician, according to a new report from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). The 2016 MGMA Cost and Revenue Report shows that health technologies such as EHRs ran physician practices up to $32,500 per physician in 2015...
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Indian Health Service Solving e-Health Challenges With Help From VA
The Indian Health Service's electronic health records system is getting an upgrade. And it's following the same joint EHR plan as the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department. Read More »
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Injured Ex-Soldiers Often Unfairly Denied Benefits, AG Finds [Canada]
The Harper government's oft-repeated slogan of supporting the troops took several hits in the latest auditor general's report, which found injured ex-soldiers don't always get their entitled services and benefits. Read More »
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Innovation At VA: App Offered To Hurricane Sandy Victims
A mobile app originally developed to aid veterans has been offered to mental health personnel helping Hurricane Sandy's victims, an example of how innovation and technology within the federal government can have a broader reach than ever before. Read More »
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Innovation At VA: Collaboration, Data Aid Veteran Benefits Project
A collaborative effort to combine data previously scattered across multiple federal agencies has led to a single portal where veterans can access key benefits. Read More »
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Inside Obama's Stealth Startup
The new hub of Washington’s tech insurgency is something known as the U.S. Digital Service, which is headquartered in a stately brick townhouse half a block from the White House. USDS -employees tend to congregate with their laptops at a long table at the back half of the parlor floor. If there’s no room, they retreat downstairs to a low-ceilinged basement, sprawling on cushioned chairs. Apart from an air-hockey table, there aren’t many physical reminders of West Coast startup culture—a lot of the new techies are issued BlackBerrys, which seems to cause them near-physical pain...
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