Veterans Affairs
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All morning we've been talking about acquisition, and how to improve and modernize it. Sometimes it's easy to forget that acquisitions aren't just for their own sake; they support programs. So good program management is part of the mix of success. Paul Gregory, the vice chancellor of the Program Management School at the Veterans Affairs Acquisition Academy, joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive from the ACT-IAC Acquisition Excellence Conference with more on that perspective.
March 03, 2015 -
The House on Monday approved a bill allowing the Veterans Affairs secretary to force senior executives to repay bonuses if the employees engaged in misconduct.
March 03, 2015 -
The Veterans Affairs Department is attacking its appeals backlog much in the same way it took on its disability claims backlog. VA is using a combination of technology and old-fashioned process improvements to deal with an appeals backlog that has grown by 15 percent over the last two years. Federal News Radio's executive editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more details on VA's plans to decrease the appeals backlog.
February 25, 2015 -
By one measure, the Defense Department's health care bill is triple what it was 15 years ago. By another, medical costs make up 10 percent of the military's budget, compared to 6 percent in 2000. A new report from the Center for a New American Security says the department has to get health spending under control, and offers two main prescriptions. Peter Levin is an adjunct fellow at the center, and also a former chief technology officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs. In an interview with Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu, he says it's true that the nation's overall health care costs have been rising, but DoD seems to be last in line to address the problem.
February 18, 2015 -
A brief look at the latest happenings in Congress this week
February 13, 2015 -
The Veterans Affairs Department has hundreds of land-use agreements worth tens of millions of dollars. It needs help in managing them. A new study by the Government Accountability Office found several agreements were recorded multiple times, and some revenue hadn't even been reported. Steve Lord, the managing director of Forensic Audits and Investigative Service at GAO, joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain more about how land-use agreements work and what GAO found.
February 12, 2015 -
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on Wednesday asked a Republican lawmaker who served in both Iraq wars, "What have you done?" as the two men sparred over huge cost overruns at a troubled Denver VA hospital.
February 12, 2015 -
The Veterans Health Administration wants to reinvent how it pays its doctors. To do that, it's modernizing its health care system in a data-driven way. Mark Byers is CEO of DSS Inc. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he explained ways data can reinvent and improve health care for the federal government.
February 05, 2015 -
In their first round of congressional testimony, members of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission cited glaring gaps between the policies and services provided by DoD and VA. Their report found that existing systems to bridge the gap are mostly a paperwork exercise.
February 04, 2015 -
Bonuses went to some employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs who later got caught up in the wait time scandal, and other incidents at the agency. The congressman who sponsored the bill that makes it easier to fire SESers at VA wants to go after those bonuses now. Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) is chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. On In Depth with Francis Rose, he said seeing results from the VA Management Accountability Act of 2014 (the firing bill that President Barack Obama signed late last year) won't happen overnight.
January 28, 2015 -
Blowing the whistle on wrongdoing at the Department of Veterans Affairs can mean risking everything from losing a job to losing the respect of co-workers. But in fighting whistleblower retaliation today, the Office of Special Counsel hopes future whistleblowers will come forward without fear of punishment.
January 28, 2015 -
The massive reorganization the Veterans Affairs Department has unveiled begins with a simple premise: everyone should work from the same starting point. VA said it has now created a single map made up of five regions that the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, the National Cemetery Administration and several other offices will work from instead of the nine separate regional maps that existed previously.
January 26, 2015 -
The Department of Veterans Affairs began the biggest transformation in its history with a simple premise: everyone working from the same starting point. VA announced today the first of what likely will be many reorganizations, starting with its regional map. Federal News Radio executive editor Jason Miller joined In Depth with Francis Rose to discuss where VA's transformation is heading.
January 26, 2015 -
Mandiant issued a report finding the Veterans Affairs Department network domain controllers had no evidence of data theft, such as the loss of credentials, personal information or personal health information or VA sensitive information. But some congressional sources are skeptical of Mandiant's findings, calling it too narrow to be sure the network and veterans data is safe.
January 26, 2015 -
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller wants new ways to punish SES members accused of misconduct, including possible pension reductions, limits on paid leave. He also wants to curtail VA's bonus award system.
January 23, 2015