Department of Defense (DoD)

As a former chief information officer with a long career in information technology, my focus has intensified since the Department of Defense announced plans to spend $11 billion on a new EHR system - one that can seamlessly exchange health data for the country's nearly 10 million employees, military personnel, retirees and their families. But the DoD's plan will fail. That's because most of today's EHR systems, including the bidder finalists, are designed only to work within their own system. That allows them to charge physicians and hospitals outside their system for access to your data. DoD can demand a system that seamlessly connects health data with civilian hospitals - or the VA - but it has failed to do so.

Read More »

First four years of the Obama Administration were marked by the beginnings of significant changes in federal IT. Execution will be the name of the game during the next four. Read More »

A new report by the Government Accountability Office points out that many federal training programs are duplicative, costly and/or ineffective, and that governmentwide virtual training may be agencies’ best solution to centralizing training and saving money. Read More »

The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are developing a host of tools online and on smartphones to help veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. I wrote in today’s Globe about some of the new technologies, including an online treatment program for people with PTSD symptoms and heavy alcohol use designed by Boston researchers. Read More »

The Defense Department sent a report to Congress today detailing how the Pentagon plans to integrate health care operations. The plan falls short of 2006 recommendations by the Defense Business Board to eliminate Army, Navy and Air Force medical commands and establish a unified medical command. Read More »

To hear the President of the United States tell it, the Department of Veterans Affairs' frequently maligned EHR system has been fixed in just a few short weeks. During a speech on Tuesday in Ohio, President Donald Trump praised the work of Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin in reforming the agency responsible for providing medical care to the nation’s veterans. He specifically underscored the efforts his administration has taken to improve the VA’s EHR system...

Read More »

The U.S. Defense Department and Department of Veterans Affairs have launched an effort to combine their two electronic health record systems into one. This integrated Electronic Health Record will track medical care from the day military members join the service through the rest of their lives. The project will not be a simple joining of two legacy systems; rather, it will upgrade current tools, with personnel continually integrating new technology, capability and processes to improve functionality of the combined offering.

Read More »