Tag Archives: VA

Are We There Yet? The Future of Modernization

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There's no shortage of mandates and guidance related to modernization-PMA, Technology Modernization Fund, FITARA, Cyber EO, CX EO-pushing the government to update how they deliver services online, but what does it really mean, and what is involved?

Modernization in government began with transforming data centers and integrating cloud computing into government IT architectures and moved on to improving customer experience. Agencies have made inroads in all areas. The recent FITARA scorecard showed that data center consolidation goals have been completed. Cloud efforts have moved from Cloud First to Cloud Smart in an effort to ensure cloud was just not a checkbox but was being used to transform how the government consumes and distributes IT services. Citizen Experience (CX) has been a priority across three administrations with the next generation of CX efforts outlined in an executive order. These modernization efforts have resulted in billions of dollars in cost savings and increased efficiency for a government workforce that is now telework friendly, but the work is not done. Continue reading →

Rebuilding Trust in Government Through Service

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A survey released in April 2021 showed only 24 percent of the American public had trust in the Federal Government. This was up from 21 percent in 2020 but still near a historic low. Knowing this reality, the Biden Administration made improving customer service a cornerstone of the President's Management Agenda (PMA) Vision with a goal of "delivering excellent, equitable, and secure Federal services and customer experience." This was followed by the Executive Order, Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government, directing government leaders to account for the experiences of the public in seeking government services.

This Executive Order includes 36 customer experience (CX) improvement commitments across 17 Federal agencies, all of which aim to improve people's lives and the delivery of Government services. Services supporting the following focus areas were called out for immediate attention and improvement: Continue reading →

Agency Spotlight: Health and Human Services

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been in the spotlight like never before with their critical role in managing the pandemic. While there is a lot of work still to be done on that front, other critical efforts are taking place across HHS agencies that will have an incredible impact on the health and well-being of citizens.

Data Sharing

The necessity of sharing data to understand and respond to the pandemic spawned a host of new applications and a new openness to data sharing across HHS as well as governmentwide. The first major HHS data sharing platform was launched in April 2020. Named HHS Protect, this platform provided visibility into more than four billion data elements from 225 sources providing intelligence on rates of infection and hospitalizations. HHS is committed to expanding its use and sharing of data in all areas of its mission with programs including the Data Optimization Initiative, Administration for Children and Families Data Sharing Solutions, and the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). Continue reading →

Five Steps Toward Digital Transformation at the Department of Veterans Affairs

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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is keenly focused on improving the healthcare and general services that support our military veterans. Incumbent on these improvements is the integration of leading edge technologies that digitize and automate processes for efficiency along with important security enhancements.

 

 

ONE: Implementation of Electronic Health Records

The Department's efforts to modernize the way they store and access records for the nine million veterans they care for into a comprehensive electronic system has been well documented. These efforts involve upgrading all 1200+ VA facilities' existing systems to ensure better continuity of care, and are currently focused on moving EHR data to a cloud system that will be interoperable with the Military Health System. The ultimate goal is to ensure service members can seamlessly and digitally transition from DOD to VA health care, instead of needing to carry around stacks of paper forms as is current practice.

Continue reading →

A Check-Up on Healthcare Events

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Healthcare is a critical topic in the federal market. From the Affordable Care Act to HIPAA compliance, to cyber threats, the federal healthcare community is facing an enormous amount of change and outside pressures.[Tweet "Federal healthcare community is facing an enormous amount of change. #GovEventsBlog"] While providers need (and want) to focus on delivering more personalized medicine leading to better patient outcomes, all of these "back-office" issues need to be addressed to help them do just that.

Like any topic, there are a wide range of events that meet the education and training of the healthcare community. HIMSS is widely recognized as the must-attend event for the healthcare IT community. But beyond this annual event, there are many other options for the government health community to learn about and discuss the latest trends in care and health IT management.[Tweet "There are many event options for the government health community. #GovEventsBlog"]

We've pulled together a number of valuable events happening through the end of this year that span the wide range of topics that impact the federal health community. Continue reading →