The Mid-Atlantic Regional Group
Blinded Veterans Association
Legislative News
February 19, 2010
For all BVA contacts and membership, the following are two issues that we are actively working on with both the administration, congress, and VA to improve the claims process for all veterans, and develop a DoD and VA electronic medical record that will prevent lost paperwork between the systems for both medical care and for benefits.
Shinseki Announces Winners of Innovation Competition for Improving Claims Processing
VA to Implement Employees’ Ideas to Transform Services
WASHINGTON (Feb. 19, 2010) – The Department of Veterans Affairs selected 10 winners in a competition that solicited ideas from VA employees and co-located Veterans service organizations to improve claims processing and provide greater transparency to Veterans.
“I commend the innovative employees who submitted these creative ideas,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “The men and women of VA and the veterans service organizations who understand the challenges in our claims processing systems have stepped up to deliver tangible results for our Nation’s Veterans.”
The Innovation Initiative winners are the Milwaukee VA Regional Office, Philadelphia/Wilmington VA Regional Office, Atlanta VA Regional Office, Pittsburgh VA Regional Office and Togus (Maine) VA Regional Office. Development of plans for implementation of these proposals will begin immediately.
Additional winners are the St. Louis Records Management Center, San Diego VA Regional Office (two winning entries), VA Central Office/St. Paul Pension Management Center, and Phoenix VA Regional Office. These ideas are identified for future implementation.
More than 3,000 ideas from VA employees and co-located Veterans service organizations were submitted to the competition. The finalists were selected by Adm. Patrick W. Dunne, former VA Under Secretary for Benefits; Craig Newmark, the founder of craigslist and a well-known technology visionary; Dr. Peter Levin, Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Chief Technology Officer; and Garry Augustine, Deputy National Service Director for Disabled American Veterans.
President Obama announced the innovation competition while speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in August. “We’re going to fund the best ideas and put them into action, all with a simple mission: cut those backlogs, slash those wait times, deliver your benefits sooner,” said Obama.
Veterans Benefits Administration Innovation Competition Winners
“Innovation Initiative” Underway for Health Records Improvements
Shinseki Asks VA Employees To Submit Creative Ideas
WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki launched the “Veterans Health IT Innovation Initiative,” an employee-based Health Information Technology (HIT) competition to spur VA’s transformation into a 21st Century organization that is Veteran-centric, results-oriented, and forward-looking.
“This competition is rooted in the simple belief that the people who work on the front lines of VA know best how to improve health care and quality, access, and transparency in service to our Nation’s Veterans,” said Secretary Shinseki. “At VA, we always want to look for new ways to improve the care we deliver.”
From now until Feb. 28, Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Office of Information & Technology (OI&T) government and contract employees can submit their innovative ideas, comment on ideas, and vote on ideas. One hundred of the ideas will be selected and employees will be invited to submit full proposals.
"We’re looking to bring innovation back to our Health IT systems," said Roger Baker, VA’s Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology. “This initiative will tap into the incredible talent across VHA and OI&T.”
The Innovation Initiative will allow employees to enter health information technology ideas in a variety of categories, such as engaging Veterans in their care, helping medical providers, increasing transparency, and improving workflow.
A series of screening panels will review the suggestions. Assistant Secretary Baker and Dr. Gerald Cross, VA’s Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Health, will select the top 25 ideas.
"VA's health IT system has always been a collaboration among its community of health care users and a dedicated IT staff,” said Cross. “Many components of our electronic health records system originated in innovations from our health care workforce. This new competition offers employees the opportunity to make VA even more open and effective.”
In September 2009, Shinseki announced a similar competition for the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), encouraging employees to submit ideas on everything from speeding the processing times for disability claims to improving transparency. The winning ideas for the VBA innovation competition will be announced in February. The final selections will receive full funding for project development and execution at the Regional Offices submitting the idea.
BVA applauds these efforts, because often the grass root level employees who try every day to manage the systems know the best changes that can help reduce the back logs and stream line efficiency.
Will keep everyone updated on this news.
Tom Zampieri
BVA Director Government Relations
Washington DC
BVA's Legislative Alerts Group
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