Department of Health and Human Services

  • Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews said while lawmakers decide whether to fund the White House's $3 million request to set up an Idea Lab, the department already released a new online tool to collect employee ideas.

    February 13, 2015
  • President Obama's fiscal 2016 budget proposes merging components of the Agriculture Department and FDA that handle food safety, as well as business and trade agencies.

    February 03, 2015
  • WASHINGTON (AP) — Sure, $4 trillion sounds like a lot. But it goes fast when your budget stretches from aging highways to medical care to space travel and more. Here’s an agency-by-agency look at how…

    February 03, 2015
  • The last several administrations have pushed federal agencies to share services they have in common. The idea is to cut redundancy and boost efficiency. Shared services have certainly been a priority for the Obama Office of Management and Budget. Some managers worry that shared services means they'll have to bring in more contractors. But in fact several departments offer a wide range of administrative services available for sharing. One of them is the Program Support Center at Health and Human Services. Paul Bartley is director of the Center. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the programs, and how to make them catch on.

    January 29, 2015
  • What is health information technology? How can it transform the practice of healthcare? What is happening to facilitate the adoption and use of Health IT? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Karen DeSalvo, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

    January 23, 2015
  • Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Marilyn Tavenner announced she will be leaving the agency at the end of February. During her tenure, Tavenner has overseen the roll out of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act.

    January 16, 2015
  • Jenny Mattingley hosts a roundtable discussion with federal CIOs and CTOs, about how their jobs have changed over the years, and the future opportunities and challenges they see on the horizon. December 5, 2014

    December 05, 2014
  • The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid wants to change how it delivers and measures Medicaid. It launched the Medicaid Accelerator Program back in July. The goal is to get Medicaid services and payments to its beneficiaries faster than ever before. It's crowdsourcing best practices for payment and services delivery from states and other health providers. Jason McNamara is one of the leaders behind IAP and a senior technical advisor for CMS in the Health and Human Services Department. He spoke with Emily Kopp and Tom Temin on the Federal Drive about how CMS wants to pass its improvements onto the states.

    December 02, 2014
  • Administrator Marilyn Tavenner told House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members on Nov. 14 that CMS fixed 22 technical recommendations before open enrollment began. The letter came on the cusp of yet another contentious hearing on the role of former White House CTO Todd Park in overseeing and developing the initially troubled portal.

    November 20, 2014
  • Top challenges for the Department of Health and Human Services are out from the HHS Office of Inspector General. Ten management and performance challenges are on the list, along with recommendations from the IG's office. Dan Levinson is the HHS Inspector General -- he joined Brian Miller of Navigant and former IG at the General Services Administration -- on In Depth with Francis Rose to break down the list.

    November 18, 2014
  • A new report from the Government Accountability Office says that some agencies, including the Departments of Energy, Transportation and Health and Human Services, experienced stalled grants and contract activity during the government shutdown of 2013.

    November 17, 2014
  • Everyone's on smartphones and tablets these days and lots of websites are becoming more mobile-friendly. This year, the Health and Human Services Department moved HHS.gov to a responsive design template. That lets users more easily read, pan and scroll on a website regardless of the viewing device. Now HHS is sharing its design code so other agencies can make their own websites more responsive. Dick Stapleton, deputy director of the HHS Digital Communications Division, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss the new move.

    November 10, 2014
  • The Science and Technology Directorate's Cybersecurity Division received dozens of proposals to protect the next emerging area for cybersecurity, called physical systems. S&T will receive 70 proposals across four major areas and award $95 million to the best ideas in early 2015.

    October 31, 2014
  • Citing cybersecurity concerns, House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) is compelling Park to testify about his role in the development of the health insurance exchange portal.

    October 29, 2014