Department of Veterans Affairs

  • The Veterans Affairs Department is requesting $20 million in fiscal 2016 to move its appeals processes from a mix of paper and electronic processes to only electronic. The additional funding is part of VA's $4.13 billion IT request to Congress.

    February 25, 2015
  • FedBid and the Air Force came to an agreement to end the reverse auction company's stay from bidding on new contracts. FedBid must implement and maintain a code of business and ethics conduct program and have a third party report on its efforts for a year. Additionally, Ali Saadat, the founder and former CEO of FedBid, resigned on Feb. 5.

    February 23, 2015
  • An independent report cites a "fee-for-service" model as a main driver in DoD's rising medical costs, and urges the department to value outcomes over volume in upcoming TRICARE procurement.

    February 19, 2015
  • The Government Accountability Office added two new issues to its ever-growing list of challenges for agencies. The biennial High Risk List includes six areas that have been problematic for 25 years.

    February 12, 2015
  • In their first round of congressional testimony, members of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission cited glaring gaps between the policies and services provided by DoD and VA. Their report found that existing systems to bridge the gap are mostly a paperwork exercise.

    February 04, 2015
  • Big changes to military health care are part of the recommendations to reshape military compensation. Last week, a blue-ribbon panel released its long-awaited report on modernizing the military compensation system. The report included those changes to health care. The recommendation to replace the current TRICARE system has gotten most of the attention, but the panel's commissioners also see a major opportunity to sync up DoD and the Department of Veterans' Affairs health care systems. Federal News Radio DoD Reporter Jared Serbu has the story.

    February 03, 2015
  • The Air Force's decision comes after the Veterans Affairs IG found alleged procurement fraud, intimidation and threats against a federal official. FedBid says it's cooperating with the Air Force and believes it took the necessary steps to fix the problems.

    January 28, 2015
  • The Veterans Affairs Department's computers and networks get a clean bill of health from third-party experts. The analysis comes about a year and a half after the VA came under intense scrutiny at a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing for having major cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller tells In Depth with Francis Rose about the report and what it means for veterans' data.

    January 27, 2015
  • When the Department of Veterans Affairs started building a new state-of-the-art hospital in Denver, it was supposed to cost $600 billion and be finished by 2014. Today, it's less than half complete, the price tag has doubled and it's likely to go even higher. As Federal News Radio's Jared Serbu reports, the VA is turning to the Army Corps of Engineers to help avoid similar blunders in the future.

    January 22, 2015
  • Jeffrey Cathey and Lewis Runnion with Bank of America will discuss how the company is helping veterans find jobs in the private sector after they complete their military service. December 26, 2014

    December 26, 2014
  • The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General identified a total of 40,500 missed opportunities for the call center to refer veterans to appropriate care and services.

    December 17, 2014
  • Before receiving their Public Servant of the Year awards, each whistleblower told stories of outrage and frustration, scattered with doses of faith and black humor.

    December 03, 2014
  • The U.S. Digital Service team is working with VA and other agencies to hire and train employees to apply the agile development approach to projects. Mikey Dickerson, USDS director, said the goal is two-fold: to create lasting agile development capacity in agencies and to ensure agencies think about citizens' needs first and foremost.

    November 25, 2014
  • The Office of Management and Budget says PortfolioStat data is proving the positive impact agile development is having on IT projects. The U.S. Digital Service is providing both help and training to expand the understanding and use of agile development.

    November 21, 2014
  • Jeffrey Cathey and Lewis Runnion with Bank of America will discuss how the company is helping veterans find jobs in the private sector after they complete their military service. November 14, 2014

    November 14, 2014