VA Healthcare Overhaul Could Mean Opportunities For VARs

By Megan Williams, contributing writer

Behind all the scandal, the Veterans Health Administration has been taking steps to overhaul the way it deals with IT. As early as 2013, it began efforts to improve the patient experience through technology including health and wellness apps, sensors, and home monitoring devices. Last Thursday though, a more official step was taken.

Presidential Approval

The Department Of Veteran Affairs has been approved to receive $16.3 billion by President Barack Obama. The bill was finally passed by Congress after months of scandal at the VA, highlighted by the resignation of Eric Shinseki in May.

Since then, the VA has begun taking steps to address the most serious of their problems, adding more clinic hours, recruiting additional staff, and deploying mobile medical units. The bill has also included a proposal from Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) to make use of the private sector to assist the VA in solving some of these problems.

Help From The Private Sector

The bill encourages the immediate evaluation of the VA’s IT systems to gather recommendations on ways to ensure that every veteran who contacts the department can schedule an appointment in a timely and efficient manner. The senator believes that this is something that can be done quickly and as a first step toward executing broader changes across the agency. The solicitation for pro-bono assistance was first recommended in a letter from Sen. Warner and Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) to the president.

According to Sen. Warner’s website, the primary goal of the solicitation will be to recommend improvements within 45 days and implement those improvements within one year.

This isn’t Sen. Warner’s first foray into soliciting help for the military from the private sector — in 2011, the Northern Virginia Technology Council completed its report to Army Secretary John McHugh based on its pro bono assessment of the processes and technology challenges at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Engaging the tech sector and the best minds from leading American IT firms produced a comprehensive business plan to help the Army modernize its workflow procedures and upgrade the data management systems at Arlington.  That effort, conducted at no cost to the taxpayers, represented the very best traditions of corporate citizenship.”

Additional information is available at Sen. Warner’s website.