US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

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VA Readies Scheduling RFP

Dan Verton | FedScoop | November 14, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to release the long-awaited request for proposals next week for the replacement to its patient scheduling system, the agency’s chief information officer confirmed today.

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VA Releases Open Source Policy Memorandum

The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has just made public an executive policy memorandum that mandates a thorough evaluation of "Open Source Software (OSS) solutions when [the] VA acquires software." The policy also calls for the Federal agency to consider the use of open source "development practices when VA develops software." The release of this policy places the VA as the leader in government agencies innovating through the use of open source software.

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VA Secretary McDonald Updates Employees on MyVA Reorganization Plans

Press Release | US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | November 10, 2014

Veterans Affairs Secretary McDonald Updates Employees on MyVA Reorganization Plans

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VA Secretary to Congress: We Don't Know What the Cerner EHR Will Cost

Bernie Monegain | Healthcare IT News | June 22, 2017

Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, MD, told a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday he does not yet know the cost for the new Cerner electronic health record that the VA plans to purchase. While Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said he supports the decision to replace the VA’s existing Vista EHR, he worried the cost was not part of the 2018 budget. “I understand you don’t want to just pick a number,” Schatz told Shulkin. “But it’s not zero. And we’re about to mark this bill up and it’s difficult to do a markup when, lacking information, we’re expected to sort of book it at zero”...

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VA Selects Bitscopic's Praedico for Public Health Surveillance

Press Release | Bitscopic | March 20, 2015

Bitscopic Inc., a leading provider of health analytics tools, announced today that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has selected its Praedico platform to detect and monitor infectious disease outbreaks across the country. In addition, the VA is going to pilot Bitscopic's advanced analytics software for the early detection and management of hospital acquired infections (HAI) and other clinical informatics applications. Bitscopic's Praedico scans data from electronic health records (EHRs), laboratories, pharmacies, and other sources in seconds. It has been used to analyze infectious disease data including influenza, dengue, Hepatitis C (HCV), etc. Praedico is a modular, highly configurable, and customizable platform. It can detect and monitor large-scale events such as antibiotic resistance trends and potential major disease outbreaks. In addition, it monitors more localized events and tools, such as patient monitoring devices, and surgical site infections. Read More »

VA Takes Next Step to Modernize Scheduling System

Press Release | US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | August 25, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new Medical Appointment Scheduling System; the next step in a series of actions VA has taken to replace its antiquated legacy scheduling system.  The new system will improve access to care for Veterans by providing medical schedulers with cutting-edge, management-based scheduling software.  The RFP will be made public by the end of September 2014; eligible vendors will have 30 days to respond from the day of issuance. Read More »

VA to Accept Proposals for New Scheduling System

Press Release | US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) | November 21, 2014

As part of The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) ongoing effort to improve Veterans’ access to healthcare, VA announced it has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a new Medical Appointment Scheduling System (MASS)..  The new MASS technology will help improve access to care for Veterans by providing schedulers with state-of-the-art, management-based scheduling software.

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VA To Invest Billions in Open Source Transition

The open source strategy of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was the focus of the recent Open Source Think Tank Conference in Napa, California held April 12-14. This conference, sponsored by the Olliance Group and now on its 7th year, has become one of the premier open source gatherings in the world. Top IT leaders of the VA came to the conference to ask for the advice of the open source community in finalizing the VA's strategy for the future of its world-class electronic health record (EHR) system, VistA.

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VA to Pilot IBM's Watson to Assist Physicians in Caring for Patients

Press Release | VA | December 15, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has begun a two-year pilot to study innovative approaches to quickly search electronic medical records and medical literature for relevant published studies. During the pilot, VA will assess how the technology may accelerate evidence-based clinical decisions.

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VA using big data to improve health care delivery

Press Release | US Department of Veterans Affairs | March 24, 2016

Using health data to understand disease and wellness as well as the best treatment and prevention options forpatients, is critical for improving care. That’s why VA is partnering with the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives to use “big data” to advance favorable outcomes in patient care. “Big data” in health care is a term used to describe complex and very large data sets that have evolved since the inception of electronic health records.

VA Wait Times As Good or Better Than Private Sector: Report

Richard Sisk | Military.com | September 20, 2017

VA health care is as good or in some cases better than that offered by the private sector on key measures including wait times, according to a study commissioned by the American Legion. The report, issued Tuesday and titled "A System Worth Saving," concludes that the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system "continues to perform as well as, and often better than, the rest of the U.S. health-care system on key quality measures," including patient safety, satisfaction and care coordination...

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VA's Hurricane Relief Efforts Extend Beyond Veterans

Johnathon Clinkscales | American Legion | October 5, 2017

The American Legion met with VA leadership on Sept. 29 to learn what humanitarian aid VA is, and has been, providing to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida and Texas..."There are 60 civilian hospitals in Puerto Rico, many of which are still inoperative, don't have power or have serious damage. There's only one hospital that is like the beacon in Puerto Rico and that is the VA medical center - seeing people, taking care of everybody we can and feeding everybody we can."..."We did a lot of preparing and started sending stuff down there before the hurricane. Now we're using these resources to take care of non-veterans and civilians until the hospitals - that are either damaged, incapable of operating or we don't know the condition of - come back into the system and then we'll transfer them. It is certainly necessary for a humanitarian effort like this," Loren said...

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VA's Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) Has Announced New Veteran-focused Integration Process (VIP)

The Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), has announced a new Veteran-focused Integration Process (VIP) to replace the Project Management Accountability System (PMAS) for the development and management of IT projects. The Veteran-focused Integration Process (VIP) is a Lean-Agile framework that services the interest of Veterans through the efficient streamlining of activities within the VA enterprise.  It is designed to increase the speed of delivery of high-quality, secure IT capabilities to Veterans. Read More »

VA's Palo Alto Hospital Selects Bitscopic's PraediAlert Clinical Surveillance Platform

Press Release | Bitscopic | September 14, 2020

Bitscopic Inc., a Silicon Valley based healthcare analytics company, announced today that the US Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) Palo Alto Medical Center has selected Bitscopic's PraediAlert platform for clinical surveillance. PraediAlert is an FDA registered clinical surveillance system that allows hospitals to improve patient care and patient safety by minimizing and managing patients at risk for hospital acquired infections (HAI) as well as optimizing care team productivity and workflows to improve patient outcomes.

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Valley General Hospital Goes Live on OpenVista Electronic Health Record

Press Release | Medsphere Systems Corporation, Valley General Hospital (VGH) | October 23, 2014

Medsphere Systems Corporation and Valley General Hospital (VGH) today announced that VGH is up and running on Medsphere’s OpenVista® electronic health record (EHR). The Snohomish County community hospital, located northeast of Seattle, now looks forward to Meaningful Use 2014 certification later this year and federal reimbursement early next year. Both Medsphere and VGH estimate that federal Meaningful Use funds will cover most if not all of the initial five-year subscription costs for OpenVista. Read More »