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Commentator Edward Francis Meagher predicts a debacle will occur over the VA's contract to Cerner for a replacement electronic health record for its Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture.
Acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie described the development as one of the biggest IT contracts in federal government.
The Veterans Affairs Department faces many challenges with its decision to abandon the Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) and adopt a commercial, off-the-shelf electronic health record. But with a high dollar amount and big stakes comes as even larger culture change, federal IT experts said.
Dr. David Shulkin has either made a dramatic and long-overdue change, or he's stomped on a hornet's nest and unleashed furies that'll eat him alive.
In today's Federal Newscast, Reality Leigh Winner, an employee of Pluribus International Corporation, removed classified material from a government facility and gave it to an online news outlet, according to the Justice Department.
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin announced his intention to drop VistA and move the department to a commercial, off-the-shelf electronic health record.
The Veterans Affairs Department may get a big budget boost in fiscal 2018 under the president's proposal. Most of the additional funding will go toward health care, both in and outside the department. But the budget proposal does suggest cuts, and lawmakers said they're concerned by possible spending reductions to VA information technology and medical research.
The Veterans Affairs Department is preparing a "State of VA" report on the challenges facing the agency, Secretary David Shulkin told reporters Wednesday. The report comes as VA quickly begins to plot some of its efforts to comply with the President's government reorganization efforts during the fiscal 2018 budget cycle. VA is one of few civilian agencies that may see a major funding boost next year, according to the President's budget proposal.
The Veterans Affairs Department is only one of many major health care providers that use MUMPS. It could end up spending those billions to replace it with what it has already.
The Government Accountability Office had some hard truths for the Veterans Affairs Department, which has failed to produce more modern, interoperable IT systems after years of failed pilots and heated congressional hearings. GAO says VA should drop its plans to modernize VistA and find a commercial option instead.
The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs certified to Congress that their electronic health records could finally exchange data in a meaningful way. But lawmakers aren’t satisfied with that assertion.
Department of Veterans Affairs certifies to Congress that is it fully interoperable with DoD medical IT systems. But future of VA's own health record system is yet to be decided.
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.
Congress is giving more money to the Department of Veterans Affairs, while also requiring the beleaguered agency to report more frequently to the House and Senate appropriations committees.