We are happy to present the inaugural edition of MeriTalk News Briefs, where we bring you all the day’s action that didn’t quite make the headlines. No need to shout about ‘em, but we do feel that they merit talk. […]

Lawmakers hailed a new partnership that will leverage the Department of Energy’s high-performance computing and machine learning capabilities to help analyze the health records of more than 20 million veterans maintained by the Department of Veterans Affairs. […]

Federal government agencies must work on improving mobile device security, as people are increasingly attached to their devices and attackers can wield a variety of new threats that can expose agencies’ passwords, personal information and networks, industry officials said this week.   […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has signed a 10-year, $10 billion Electronic Health Record (EHR) contract with Cerner to modernize the agency’s healthcare IT systems, VA Acting Secretary Robert Wilkie announced late Thursday. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is focused on modernizing its aging technology infrastructure. From overhauling its electronic health records system to moving to the cloud, the VA has been busy. […]

Cloud computing is now powering the next generation of technology–from artificial intelligence (AI) to Internet of Things (IoT) to machine learning, offering government agencies scalability and agility to support and analyze a massive influx of data for more informed decision making. […]

The Department of Defense (DoD) and contractor Cerner are coming off an eight week break in the initial deployment of what’s planned to be a worldwide health care records system. The team stopped work to address glitches in system performance and contend with negative user feedback. But officials in charge of the deployment of the MHS Genesis system said the pause was planned as part of the rollout, initial complaints were expected, and DoD still expects to complete the $4.3 billion system by 2022. […]

The Federal government wants to speed up adoption of cloud email and collaboration systems. But first it needs an accurate measure of how many agencies have not yet migrated to cloud email. There is definitive data on the benefits of cloud-based email solutions among CFO Act agencies, but no clear data regarding the adoption of cloud-based solutions at small and independent agencies, according to the Report to the President on Federal IT Modernization. […]

The Modernizing Government Technology Act (MGT) and other related initiatives are pushing agencies to move away from aging, legacy applications as well as costly, complex software projects. The goal is to have more secure, agile, and cost-effective IT infrastructures replace them. […]

President Donald Trump last week issued an Executive Order on veterans’ health care that included an announcement that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would adopt the same electronic records systems as the Department of Defense (DoD), signing off on what was already a done deal. Emphasis on “deal,” because although the departments are on board with a project that could cost $10 billion over 10 years, history raises doubts as to whether a unified health records system can actually be achieved. […]

Since 2001, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has tried three different modernization programs for its healthcare system. So when the department announced another plan to modernize by adopting the same system as the Department of Defense (DoD), the Subcommittee on Information Technology was skeptical and interrogated them in a Dec.7 hearing. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is piloting a new telehealth program that uses tablets and the cloud to help veterans recover faster than before. The new program is specifically targeting non-healing wounds, which costs the U.S. $50 billion per year in healthcare expenses.  […]

MeriTalk compiles a weekly roundup of contracts and other industry activity. Here’s what happened this week in the Federal Information Technology community. […]

In honor of National Veterans and Military Families Month, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration (NCA) is recommitting itself to its mission to “memorialize veterans in perpetuity.” The NCA is turning to crowdsourcing to revamp its outdated Nationwide Gravesite Locator, a web portal that allows users to access burial information for cemeteries across the […]

Rob Thomas, CIO at Veterans Affairs, announced his retirement from Federal service on Sept. 20 through a letter to VA Office of Information and Technology colleagues. […]

The United States Digital Service turned 3 years old earlier this month and highlighted this year’s major projects, including modernizing the Veterans Affairs website, launching Code.mil, and starting the #Procuremenati. […]

The White House on Aug. 3 unveiled new telehealth features for veterans, including a smartphone application that veterans can use to make doctor’s appointments. The telehealth effort will offer services to help veterans seeking care whether they are at home or overseas. […]

Despite disagreements about climate policy and immigration, the White House still managed to scrape together 18 technology executives who want to have a voice in the administration. Jared Kushner, head of the White House Office of American Innovation, said, “Many warned me bureaucracy would resist any change we tried to implement. So far I’ve found exactly the opposite. The goal is simple here, to improve the day-to-day lives of average citizens. That’s a core promise and we are keeping it.” […]

Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin announced that his agency plans to move its medical records to the same electronic system currently used by the Department of Defense. […]

John Short, the program executive for the VistA Evolution program at the Department of Veterans Affairs, has been tapped to take over as the acting deputy director of the DOD/VA Interagency Program Office responsible for ensuring electronic health record sharing between the VA and the Pentagon. […]

The website VA Review allows veterans and their families to post honest reviews of medical care and make more informed health care choices. After being active for only six months, VA Review has already amassed more than 1,000 users. […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to move forward with a nationwide rollout and test of homegrown improvements to the scheduling component of its electronic health record. […]

The on-again, off-again story of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ $642 million commercial scheduling system is not only back on track, but is likely part of a larger movement by the department to finally adopt a commercial electronic health record system. […]

Less than six months into her tenure as the Department of Veterans Affairs’ chief information security officer, Roopangi Kadakia has been tasked to lead the agency’s cloud efforts. Dominic Cussatt will take over as acting CISO, according to an internal agency memo obtained by MeriTalk. […]