Organization

Department Of Veterans Affairs


Indianapolis VA to partner with IHIE for pilot program

Partnerships & Alliances | Wednesday, August 25 2010
The Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis will partner with the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) to exchange EHR information using the Nationwide Health Information Network.
 

VA to test paperless claims system in R.I.

Industry News | Friday, August 13 2010
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has selected its regional benefits office in Providence, R.I. to test a paperless system and new procedures to improve processing of Veterans’ claims for disability compensation to support VA’s transformation of the claims process for Veterans, their families and their survivors.
 

iCRco lands multi-year contract with VA

Contracts & Installations | Tuesday, August 10 2010
iCRco has been awarded a multi-year contract under the Veteran’s Administration/Defense Supply Center Philadelphia joint imaging program for its CR technology.
 

HMS buys AMG-SIU to boost fraud prevention portfolio

Mergers & Acquisitions | Monday, July 05 2010
HMS Holdings has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Allied Management Group (AMG-SIU), a provider of fraud, waste and abuse prevention and detection for healthcare payors, in an all-cash transaction.
 

HIT Standards Committee: NHIN to build on interop initiatives, filling 'gaps’

Conference News | Wednesday, June 30 2010
Written by Mary Stevens
To move the Nationwide Health Information Exchange (NHIN) from a set of broad policies to production systems, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) must translate strategy into operational actions, according to Doug Fridsma, MD, PhD, acting director of the Office of Interoperability and Standards at ONC. Fridsma made his comments during a presentation with Arien Malec, coordinator for the NHIN Direct, ONC.
 

GAO: VA's second outpatient scheduling system needs more work

Industry News | Wednesday, June 30 2010
After spending an estimated $127 million over nine years on its outpatient scheduling system project, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has not implemented any of the planned system’s capabilities and is essentially starting over, according to a June 28 report published online by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
 

Images & the Health Information Exchange: A Work in Progress

Features | Monday, June 21 2010
Written by Jeff Byers
Some five dozen health information exchange (HIE) initiatives have cropped up across the nation enabling clinicians to share critical patient information with other caregivers in a timely fashion to allow swift, more-informed care. Currently, the sharing of medical images and radiology reports is very limited through HIEs, but forward-thinking clinicians and IT leaders are working to make seamless image sharing a radiological reality.
 

iCAD nets VA contract for CAD mammo

Contracts & Installations | Thursday, June 10 2010
iCAD, a provider of image analysis and workflow technologies for the identification of cancer, has signed an agreement with the Defense Supply Center to provide federal healthcare facilities including Veteran's Administration (VA) and Department of Defense Hospitals with its computer-aided detection (CAD) technology for mammography.
 

VA selects ESN to upgrade VistA for HIPAA standards

Contracts & Installations | Thursday, June 10 2010
Engineering Services Network (ESN) won a $7.9 million contract from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to upgrade the agency's Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) to meet HIPAA electronic transaction standards for enabling a third-party payment system.
 

VA launches industry innovation competition; $80M up for grabs

Industry News | Tuesday, June 08 2010
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has launched the Industry Innovation Competition by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), making available $80 million for private sector innovations.
 

SIIM: Imaging informatics can plug gaps in rad depts

Conference News | Thursday, June 03 2010
Written by Lisa Fratt
MINNEAPOLIS—Imaging informatics can help in solving many of these persistent problems that plague radiology departments, including radiation dose concerns and mobile patients. During a Thursday afternoon scientific session at the annual meeting of the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM), three sites shared projects that leveraged informatics to overcome common imaging problems.
 

VA selects 26 health IT initiatives

Industry News | Tuesday, June 01 2010
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has selected 26 winning ideas in the Veterans Health Administration/Office of Information and Technology (VHA/OIT) Innovation Competition.
 

GAO: VA deficient in security controls, information at risk

Industry News | Tuesday, May 25 2010
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) needs to resolve long-standing deficiencies in securing its information and systems, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
 

Rep blasts VA over data breaches

Top Stories | Monday, May 17 2010
In the wake of two data breaches of veterans’ health information, Rep. Steven Buyer, R-Ind., ranking Republican on the U.S. House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, sent a stinging letter to Erik K.Shinseki, Secretary of the VA, criticizing the agency’s “continuing material weakness in veterans’ personal information from data breaches.”
 

IAC to VA: Modernize VistA

Industry News | Tuesday, May 11 2010
The Department of Veterans Affairs should commit to and announce, as a matter of strategic policy, a plan to move to an open source, open standards model for re-engineering the next generation of VistA, the department’s integrated health information system, according to a new report from the Industry Advisory Council.
 

iVETS Act would create veteran internet health portal

Industry News | Tuesday, May 11 2010
Rep. Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts introduced this week the Improving Veterans’ Electronic Transition Services Act (iVETS Act) to encourage the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to create an internet-based portal for veterans to access their records and benefits information electronically.
 

HHS releases $220M in health IT awards

Top Stories | Tuesday, May 04 2010
U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius have selected 15 pilot communities for wide-scale use of health IT through the Beacon Community program, with awards totaling $220 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
 

ANIA: VA harnesses standardized terminology to 'free the data'

Conference News | Saturday, April 24 2010
Written by Mary Stevens
BOSTON--The Office of Nursing Services (ONS) at the Department of Veterans Affairs is developing an inter-agency standards-based catalog of terms to drive data use, re-use and sharing. And now this effort is at the tipping point, said Murielle Beene, MBA, RN, chief nursing informatics officer at the ONS; and Diane Bedecarre, MS, RN-BC, during a session at the recent ANIA/CARING conference.
 

Harris awarded $72M to expand VA's billing, collection services

Contracts & Installations | Thursday, April 22 2010
Harris has received a three-year, $72 million contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to support the agency's expansion of its Consolidated Patient Account Center business model.
 

HealthAffairs: VA spends more, achieves higher levels of health IT adoption

Top Stories | Monday, April 05 2010
In comparing health IT within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to the standards in the private sector, researchers from the Center for IT Leadership in Charlestown, Mass., determined that the VA spent proportionately more on IT than the private healthcare sector spent, but it achieved higher levels of IT adoption and quality of care.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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