David Shulkin

President Barack Obama nominated two people for key administration posts at the Veterans Affairs Department.

Only eight weeks into the job, David Shulkin is rethinking health care goals within the Veterans Affairs Department

The Veterans Health Administration ran out of money this fiscal year. It was about to close hospitals before Congress stepped in to help. To make sure this never happens again, Dr. David Shulkin, VHA’s new leader, has told his chief medical officers to work closely with financial managers. Chief Financial Officer Kathleen Turco tells Federal News Radio’s Emily Kopp more.

VA wants to focus on the specialized care related to veterans’ service that other facilities cannot do. But it may stop providing services commonly found elsewhere.

The Veterans Affairs Department is creating a data backbone that will house veterans’ addresses and correspondence in one system.

While new laws and programs have focused on patients, employee morale remains low at the Veterans Health Administration. As long as that remains the case, patients will not get the best from the VA’s health system, says VA Under Secretary of Health Dr. David Shulkin.

Given the VA’s past performance, the House Veterans Affairs Committee said it’s worried about the implementation, timeline and budget for the new Veterans Choice Program. The VA said it will tap into the expertise of private medical providers to help meet the growing demand for veterans health care.

The Veterans Affairs Department is asking for a 5 percent boost in across-the-board funding next fiscal year. But Congress is questioning whether new VA programs are doing enough to solve an array of tough problems at the department.

VA has paused development on “VistA Evolution,” the program it’s been using for the last several years to modernize its existing electronic health records with help from the open source community.

The Senate is considering a series of new bills that would alter the Veterans Affairs Department’s current Choice program, which lets veterans find a private care provider rather than a VA doctor. VA leaders and Congress both say the department’s current program is not working.