Veterans Affairs seeks $782 million for electronic health records overhaul
Stars and Stripes
Nikki Wentling
November 15, 2017
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin speaks at a conference held on Nov. 6, 2017 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.MICHAEL S. DARNELL/STARS AND STRIPES
WASHINGTON — Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin went to Capitol Hill on Wednesday seeking $800 million to begin an overhaul of the VA’s electronic health records – an initiative nearly 20 years in the making.
The VA is close to entering into a contract with Cerner Corp., the health information technology company it chose to implement a new electronic health records system. But first, Congress must allow the VA to reappropriate $782 million in other department funds.
If the VA doesn’t secure funding by the end of the year, the contract will cost more, and a 10-year implementation timeline will be thrown off, Shulkin told a House Appropriations subcommittee Wednesday. read more here
He did say "begin" right?
February 2008
"Carl Blake, national legislative director for the Paralyzed Veterans of America, said VBA needed $121 million in its fiscal 2009 budget for its information technology. According to VA budget documents, VBA requested an IT budget of $109.6 million for its compensation and benefits programs, down $23.8 million from $133.4 million in 2008. VA requested an overall 2009 IT budget of $2.53 billion in 2009, up from $2.15 billion in fiscal 2008, with the largest portion earmarked for the Veterans Health Administration." GovExec
And in 2016
"The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded 21 contractors spots on a $22.3 billion IT modernization contract, the overwhelming majority of which are local companies."
Why not since it worked so well the last time,,,,,,NOT!
"This T4NG award is a follow-on from the previous five-year, $12 billion T4 contract that named 15 vendors in July 2011. Among those companies were a lot of the same names, including Booz, the former SRA (now CSRA) and CACI." Washington Business Journal,
link is still liveThere are even more reports on this, but I already have a headache looking for them. I need a margarita!
Well, this pretty much sums up that and even more! "The Government Accountability Office found that VA paid out roughly $1.1 billion between fiscal 2011 and 2016 to contractors working to update the agency’s outdated Veterans Information Systems and Technology Architecture system. The agency has relied on the platform to manage health records for its 9 million beneficiaries since the 1980s." http://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2017/12/va-wasted-11-billion-failed-it-projects-six-years/144425/
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