Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

See the following -

Advocates Say Imprisoned Veterans Should Have Access to VA

Bryant Jordan | Military.com | March 11, 2016

Two veterans' service organizations are backing Senate legislation requiring prison officials to give the Veterans Affairs Department reasonable access to a prisoner who has served in the military. John Rowan, president of the Vietnam Veterans Association, on Tuesday informed Sens. Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Dick Durbin, a Democrat from New York and fellow panel member, of the organization's support for the bill, while Paralyzed Veterans of America on Thursday notified the lawmakers of its support...

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Affordable Care Act’s Impact on Health Care for Veterans

Press Release | UC Davis Health System | February 22, 2012

While the Affordable Care Act will expand health insurance coverage for low-income persons through Medicaid and state health insurance exchanges, including much-needed care for 1.8 million uninsured veterans in the U.S., the new insurance coverage option also may have a number of unintended negative effects on health care for veterans, said Kenneth W. Kizer... Read More »

AFGE Rep: VA Paperless Claims System Shuts Down On A Weekly Basis

Bob Brewin | Nextgov | February 6, 2014

The Veterans Affairs Department’s $492 million paperless Veterans Benefits Management System routinely shuts down on roughly a weekly basis, according to reports from members of the American Federation of Government Employees who use the system. Read More »

After Sexual Trauma, Soldiers Search For Better Care, Peace

Caitlin Cruz and Asha Anchan | Kaiser Health News | October 30, 2013

At least one in five female veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has screened positive for military sexual trauma (MST) once back home, Department of Veterans Affairs records show. And this may understate the crisis, experts say, because this number only counts women who go to the VA for help. Read More »

After Years Of Use, Dangers Of Opioid Drugs Discovered

Staff Writer | Statesman.com | September 29, 2012

Two-thirds of the Texas Iraq and Afghanistan veterans the American-Statesman identified as dying of overdoses had powerful prescription painkillers in their systems, according to autopsies and medical examiner reports. Read More »

Agencies Aren't Honest About Tech Spending And Risks, Auditor Says

Joseph Marks | Nextgov | June 11, 2013

Better information technology management could save taxpayers $10 billion within five years, the government's top technology auditor told lawmakers Tuesday. But getting there will require agencies to be more open about what they're spending on IT and what they're actually getting for that investment. Read More »

Agency Works to Draw Down Costs, Maintain Top Medical Care

Press Release | Department of Defense (DoD) | January 6, 2014

The Defense Department’s goal to save medical dollars and deliver the best health care possible has made strides in its first 100 days, the director of the new Defense Health Agency said. Read More »

Agency Works To Draw Down Costs, Maintain Top Medical Care

Terri Moon Cronk | U.S. Air Force | January 6, 2014

The Defense Department’s goal to save medical dollars and deliver the best health care possible has made strides in its first 100 days, the director of the new Defense Health Agency said. Read More »

AHIMA Announces Initiative To Promote Blue Button To Members

Staff Writer | iHealthBeat | October 29, 2013

During its annual conference on Monday, the American Health Information Management Association announced an initiative to encourage its 67,000 members and Component State Associations to adopt Blue Button technology to boost consumer access to personal health records, Health Data Management reports... Read More »

AirStrip, Humetrix and others advise Congress on FDA, FTC, HIPAA

Jonah Comstock | Mobi Health News | July 13, 2016

At a congressional hearing on mobile medical apps today, experts from different sectors of the industry weighed in on the ways they think federal regulation needs to change to create a robust digital health industry while still protecting the safety and wellbeing of patients. The conversation spanned various regulatory bodies and federal programs including HIPAA, the FDA, the FTC, and Medicare. “The regulatory framework for most of these apps is complicated and in some cases troubling,” Nicolas Terry, a law professor at Indiana University said in his prepared testimony. “Here, the oversimplified binary of regulation versus innovation is a poor frame...

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Almost Three Times The Risk Of Carrying MRSA From Living Near A Mega-Farm

Maryn McKenna | Wired | January 22, 2014

In the long fight over antibiotic use in agriculture, one of the most contentious points is whether the resistant bacteria that inevitably arise can move off the farm to affect humans. [...] So whenever a research team can link resistant bacteria found in humans with farms that are close to those humans, it is an important contribution to the debate. Read More »

America Must Improve Its Care For Veterans, Says CNAS Expert

Press Release | Center for a New American Security (CNAS) | November 9, 2012

After more than a decade of war, several years of constrained national budgets and a changing veteran population, the second Obama administration must confront how best to uphold its promises to the nation's men and women who serve or have served in uniform. Read More »

An Ode To VA: Let Me Count The Ways

Bob Brewin | Nextgov | June 26, 2013

The Veterans Affairs Department, as I reported today, shares its disability claims backlog weekly in a couple of ways, including a top-line number that makes the backlog look worse than it really is. Read More »

Anatomy Of An Electronic Health Record Zero-Day

Kelly Jackson Higgins | Dark Reading | December 4, 2013

How a dangerous security flaw discovered in one of the most pervasive electronic medical record platforms in the U.S. was found and fixed before it could do damage Read More »

Another Senior VA Official Steps Down

Patrick Dickson | Stars and Stripes | April 29, 2013

Veterans Affairs deputy secretary W. Scott Gould has resigned. The news was first reported by Federal News Radio. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki put out a statement via the department’s web site... Read More »