Amid the scandal over patient delays and falsified records at Veterans Affairs health facilities, numerous bills are circulating in Congress. But former VA Secretary Anthony Principi says strong leadership and modernization offer the best long-term solution for the agency.
The problems at Veterans Affairs, and the unsuccessful rollout of healthcare.gov could be evidence of something systemic. Some call it a 'civil service crisis'. Whatever it is, it's claimed jobs at both the career and political appointee levels. John Palguta is the Vice President for Policy at the Partnership. He spoke with Tom and Emily on the Federal Drive.
The fight is on between the House and Senate Veterans Affairs Committees. They're fighting about legislation to allow the VA Secretary to fire senior executives, how to respond to the health care scandal and more. But the Veterans Affairs Committees are missing something that might help them better understand the problems Veterans face. David Hawkings, senior editor at Roll Call, writes the Hawkings Here blog.
The 2013 FISMA report to Congress shows the Veterans Affairs Department continues to struggle with cybersecurity and has more than 6,000 items on its plans of actions and milestones and continued weaknesses in access and configuration management controls. VA CIO Stephen Warren details several initiatives to address many of the 35 recommendations.
Washington seems enveloped in a tong war over happenings at Veterans Affairs' hospitals. A lesser known but highly critical VA program expires this fall unless Congress acts. It's the Assisted Living Pilot Program for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury. Several bills introduced to keep the popular program alive have become lost in the swirl of politics over more visible issues. At a time when the VA is under harsh scrutiny, one of its more successful programs is about to die. Alex Bolton is a staff writer at The Hill Newspaper. He discussed the program and some of the benefits it has accrued so far on the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp.
Inside the DoD's Reporter's Notebook is biweekly feature focused on news about the Defense Department and defense community as gathered by Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu. Submit your ideas, suggestions and news tips to Jared via email.
One day after Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki testified before the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee about allegations of mismanagement at some VA health facilities, Dr. Robert Petzel stepped down as VA's undersecretary for health. Earlier in the month, the White House tapped Dr. Jeffrey Murawsky to be Petzel's replacement.
Veterans Affairs officials want veterans to be able to access their services on mobile devices. They also want to boost employee productivity with mobility. But developing business-grade apps is no simple matter. Kathy Frisbee, co-director of Connected Health in VA's Office of Informatics and Analytics, has developed a rigorous app methodology that any agency could use. She joined Tom Temin and Emily Kopp on the Federal Drive to discuss the first fleet of apps the agency has developed.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki says he's angry and saddened. But, he told Congress yesterday he has no plans to resign over reports that delayed medical care may have led to the deaths of dozens of veterans. Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu reports. Read Jared's related article.
More than half of senior executives surveyed by the Senior Executives Association are reporting "low" or "very low" morale with their jobs. The problem lies with a pay-for-performance system where some supervisors make less money than the people they lead. Increasing numbers of senior executive service members are ready to leave the federal government altogether.
The House passed the GI Tuition Fairness Act of 2013 on Wednesday that includes an amendment to stop all bonuses for senior executives at the VA for five years. The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee says it will instill some much-needed accountability to the department.
The Veterans Affairs Department has paid out $200 million in wrongful death suits to 1,000 families over the past decade. That number brings up questions about the quality of care in VA centers. VA says it investigates every preventable death. It says they represent a tiny fraction of the people who receive care at its medical centers. Yevgeniy Feyman is a fellow at the Manhattan Institute specializing in health care policy. He told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp how VA's death rates compare with all hospitals.
On this week's On DoD, Jared Serbu talks to Eric Jeffries, chief diversity and inclusion officer at Exelis; Zachary Hearn, the deputy director for benefits at the American Legion; and Alan Chvotkin, vice president at the Professional Services Council.
With a budget in place for the rest of the fiscal year and a topline in place that makes most people think 2015 will be a lot like 2014, agencies are getting back to long-term planning and priority setting. One of the areas the Department of Veterans Affairs is setting its priorities for...is acquisition. Glenn Haggstrom, VA's principal executive director of the Office of Acquisition, Logistics and Construction and acting chief acquisition officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs, told In Depth with Francis Rose one of his major acquisition priorities for 2014 has actually been around for a while.
"Inside the DoD's Reporter's Notebook" is biweekly feature focused on news about the Defense Department and defense community as gathered by Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu.