Acquisition
Speed bumps for VA's new scheduling system
A watchdog report identified gaps in training and oversight for the new scheduling system being implemented at VA medical facilities.
Cybersecurity
Former Microsoft exec DelBene tapped for top tech job at VA
Kurt DelBene, a former senior executive at Microsoft and husband of a Democratic congresswoman, is being tapped by the Biden administration to serve as CIO of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Acquisition
Morale plunges at site of VA's new electronic health record
A survey conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs found plummeting morale at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center arising from the adoption of a new electronic health record system.
Modernization
Lawmakers seek probe of veterans' records requests backlog
The National Personnel Records Center is facing a backlog of 550,000 requests that built up over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acquisition
VA seeks full 2022 funding for health record project, despite six-month pause
House appropriators are concerned that the Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking to fully fund its program to switch from its homegrown Vista system to Cerner's commercial electronic health record in 2022, despite having unspent funds from fiscal year 2021.
People
Biden mandates COVID vaccine for feds, contractors
The vaccine mandate will supplant administration workforce policy put in place in July that requires either vaccinations or regular testing for federal employees.
Cybersecurity
VA's Cussatt heads to State
The former acting CIO of the Department of Veterans Affairs is joining the Department of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and Dr. Neil Evans will lead tech at VA on an acting basis.
Acquisition
Why VA must keep Vista healthy
The moratorium on further Vista investment put in place three years ago creates major strategic issues for the Department of Veterans Affairs as the agency looks to put Cerner's commercial electronic health record system in place.
People
Pentagon pushes ahead with COVID vaccine mandate
The Defense Department will mandate Pfizer-produced COVID-19 vaccines following the Food and Drug Administration's approval, and other agencies are expected to follow.
People
HHS mandates COVID vaccine for its public-facing clinicians
Nearly 25,000 HHS employees will be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 amid a surge in national infections, Secretary Xavier Becerra announced on Thursday.
Acquisition
How VA can succeed with its EHR mega-program
The former CIO of the Department of Veterans Affairs offers some ideas for course correction in the agency's flagging $20 billion–plus Electronic Health Records Modernization program.
People
HHS looks to reset labor relations
Some federal agencies are leveraging a Biden administration executive order to change the tone of labor-management relations but unions say a few departments aren't taking the order to heart.
Modernization
TMF could help solve records request backlog for veterans, lawmakers say
A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the House Oversight and Reform Committee wants the National Archives and Records Administration to apply for funding from the Technology Modernization Fund to modernize its IT systems and clear its backlog of 500,000 records requests from veterans.
People
VA mandates vaccines for clinical staff
Agency chief Denis McDonough cited the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 as part of the reason behind the new vaccination policy.
Modernization
Why VA's electronic health record mega-project is failing
The agency's former top technology official explains how management problems, reliance on outmoded development methodology and lack of customer buy-in are combining to sink (for now) a critical modernization project at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Acquisition
VA to continue pause on Cerner deployment for six more months
At the end of calendar 2021, the Department of Veterans Affairs expects to announce a new schedule for the deployment of its $21 billion electronic health record modernization project.
Modernization
Lawmakers balk at cost-overruns, transparency issues with VA's $21 billion health record program
At a Senate hearing last week, Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough noted deficiencies in training including the lack of a real system available for use by clinicians in advance of the go-live date for a new, integrated health care software system.
Cybersecurity
VA watchdog warns of security risks from undocumented PIV cards
A new report warns contracting officers at the Veterans Health Administration are failing to comply with agency and federal guidelines ensuring contractor personnel return personal identity verification (PIV) cards after employment.
Acquisition
VA lowballed health record modernization costs, watchdog says
In a newly released report, the inspector general at the Department of Veterans Affairs indicates that the $16 billion estimate for the switch to the Cerner electronic health record system doesn't incorporate billions in needed physical infrastructure costs.
Digital Government
NARA seeks DOD's help in addressing records request backlog
Many records housed in a St. Louis facility are critical to veterans' benefits applications but can't be accessed remotely.
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