OMB chooses 2013 SAVE Award winner
Kenneth Siehr of the Department of Veterans Affairs wins this year's SAVE Award. His cost-cutting proposal involving mail-order prescriptions to veterans also saves...
By Ellen Kortesoja
Federal News Radio
The 2013 Securing Americans Value Efficiency (SAVE) Award goes to Kenneth Siehr from Milwaukee, Wis. Siehr’s idea received more than 16,000 of the 33,000 votes cast, according to the White House.
His winning idea allows veterans to track the status of their mail-order prescriptions via the Veterans Health Administration’s MyHealtheVet web portal. Currently, veterans have to call their local VA medical center and have a representative find the prescription’s location. According to the White House, Siehr’s idea will save time and money for the VA by cutting down call volume and freeing up the lines for others.
Siehr is the national director for the VHA’s Consolidated Mail Outpatient Pharmacy. He works in Milwaukee at Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center.
Of the four SAVE finalists this year, three proposals involved making information more accessible using technology.
Last year’s winning idea to shift federal public transit benefits down to senior benefits as soon as possible was included in the 2014 budget.
Siehr will meet with President Barack Obama to discuss his proposal — a tradition since the awards began in 2009.
Related Stories:
2013 SAVE Award finalists focus on electronic, online practices
Mass transit idea wins SAVE award
OMB tells CFOs to run SAVE Award ideas by broader audience
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