Veterans Health Administration struggles to retain medical workforce

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on  Federal Drive with Tom Temin.

• A Government Accountability Office report shows more doctors, nurses and other clinical specialists at the Veterans Health Administration resigned or retired in fiscal 2015 than at any other time in the past five years. Of those who parted ways during that period, about 54 percent resigned, 36 percent retired and just under 5 percent were fired. The Government Accountability Office said VHA is struggling to keep doctors, nurses, physician’s assistants, psychologists and physical therapists. (Government Accountability Office)

• Another agency is having some personnel troubles. The Homeland Security Department’s Inspector General said Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still struggling to hire and retain mental health workers to manage detainees with conditions. A newly published report said the issues stem from ICE not being able to offer competitive salaries for psychiatrists, especially in rural areas. Also the lengthy security clearance process is also discouraging potential candidates. The IG lists 20 recommendations to help improve mental health care at detention facilities, including increasing the use of telepsychiatry in areas with limited access to specialists. (Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General)

• The Homeland Security Department is putting the administration’s new cyber workforce initiative into action. The department held its first-ever tech and cybersecurity career fair last week. DHS conducted more than 700 interviews and made more than 150 on-the-spot job offers. (Federal News Radio)

• Two agencies have vacancies in the data field. The FBI is currently accepting applications for its first-ever senior-level data scientist position. He or she will serve as a senior level adviser to the Cyber Division Assistant Director. Also, Dr. Tyrone Grandison, deputy chief data officer of the Commerce Department, announced his last day is Aug. 5. (FBI/Medium.com)

• For years, federal officials have implored industry to let the government know when they’ve suffered a major cyber incident. They’re now telling companies which agency to call, and under what circumstances. Federal agencies published a two-page document meant to simplify the process of cyber incident reporting late last week. It included hotlines and web portals to the FBI, the Secret Service, and DHS, along with instructions on which agency to call whether the issue is cyber crime, suspected attacks by a foreign government, or intellectual property theft. The first draft of the tip sheet is a follow-up to a directive the White House issued last week, meant to codify each federal agency’s role in responding to cyber attacks. (Federal News Radio)

• Government auditors warn if agencies’ feet aren’t held to the fire, the full rollout of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act is at risk. The Government Accountability Office said the Office of Management and Budget and the Treasury Department need to take steps to improve the review of agency plans and monitoring of progress updates. The DATA Act standardizes federal spending reports. The implementation deadline is May 2017. (Government Accountability Office)

• Agencies have a new strategy for standing up new enterprise risk management programs. The Chief Financial Officers Council and Performance Improvement Council releases a playbook to help agencies implement ERM. It doesn’t require agencies appoint a chief risk officer, but it does suggest agencies find one responsible leader to take charge on ERM. This comes after the Office of Management and Budget finally released an update to Circular A-123 earlier this month. (Federal News Radio)

• The government wants to modernize how it distributes federal payroll. The General Services Administration’s Unified Shared Services Management office in partnership with the Office of Personnel Management, issued a Request for Information seeking ways to enhance the execution and cost efficiency of Federal payroll management, with an emphasis on the calculation of individual gross and net pay. (General Services Administration)

• The Marine Corps contracting office for the capital region did a sufficient job increasing the amount of small business subcontracting opportunities. The Defense Department Inspector General said the Marine Corps Installations National Capital Regional Contracting Office addressed all four recommendations made in a previous report last year to help ensure prime contractors were providing small businesses adequate subcontracting opportunities. The recommendations included requiring contracting officials verify contractors submit the required subcontracting reports to the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System. (Department of Defense Office of Inspector General)

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