Leaders in the healthcare community are thinking of ways they can use data to improve the quality of health care.The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments have joined forces to create Vista Evolution — a system that allows the exchange of electronic health records information between the two. Theresa Cullen, Chief Medical Informatics Officer at the Veterans Health Administration and the head of the initiative, spoke with Emily about the next steps in the process. Emily caught up with Cullen at AFCEA Bethesda’s Health IT Day.

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Someday, unmanned aircraft of all sizes will be zipping around the country. But first, the FAA has to figure out how to let them operate safely in the air space. DreamHammer makes software that controls many types of drones. CEO Nelson Paez told Tom and Emily how he views the future of unmanned aircraft.

Federal buying officials cancelled tens of thousands of contract actions last month during the government shutdown. For contractors, it won’t be easy to get that money back. When are claims valid and when should you just forget about it? For answers, Tom spoke to Joe Petrillo, a procurement attorney with the Washington law firm, Petrillo and Powell.

In his confirmation hearing, Jeh Johnson, President Barack Obama’s nominee to lead the Homeland Security Department, garnered almost universal praise from senators for his qualifications and intellect. But at least two senators say they can’t support his confirmation right now. Federal News Radio’s Jared Serbu reports.

RELATED STORY: DHS nominee Johnson says filling agency vacancies will be top priority

Not one of the top federal technology officials testifying yesterday before House lawmakers accepted the blame for the failings of the HealthCare.gov portal. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa says technology failures are like orphans — no one takes responsibility. Federal News Radio Executive Editor Jason Miller followed the hearing. He filled Francis in on the contentious hearing, and the IT and procurement breakdowns that led to the HealthCare.gov debacle.

RELATED ARTICLE: Federal IT officials shirk responsibility for HealthCare.gov problems