David Shulkin

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VA Secretary to Congress: We Don't Know What the Cerner EHR Will Cost

Bernie Monegain | Healthcare IT News | June 22, 2017

Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, MD, told a Senate subcommittee on Wednesday he does not yet know the cost for the new Cerner electronic health record that the VA plans to purchase. While Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said he supports the decision to replace the VA’s existing Vista EHR, he worried the cost was not part of the 2018 budget. “I understand you don’t want to just pick a number,” Schatz told Shulkin. “But it’s not zero. And we’re about to mark this bill up and it’s difficult to do a markup when, lacking information, we’re expected to sort of book it at zero”...

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VA to Employees: Zip your lips

Darius Tahir | Politico | July 27, 2017

VA TO EMPLOYEES — ZIP YOUR LIPS ON EHRs: Some VA IT officials Arthur [Allen] has spoken to this week got emails instructing them to sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding the Cerner deal with the agency. The emails were directed to people who “have been selected to participate in the planning for an electronic health acquisition,” and it prohibits them from discussing “all data, information and software” related to the purchase.

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VA using big data to improve health care delivery

Press Release | US Department of Veterans Affairs | March 24, 2016

Using health data to understand disease and wellness as well as the best treatment and prevention options forpatients, is critical for improving care. That’s why VA is partnering with the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives to use “big data” to advance favorable outcomes in patient care. “Big data” in health care is a term used to describe complex and very large data sets that have evolved since the inception of electronic health records.

VA Wait Times As Good or Better Than Private Sector: Report

Richard Sisk | Military.com | September 20, 2017

VA health care is as good or in some cases better than that offered by the private sector on key measures including wait times, according to a study commissioned by the American Legion. The report, issued Tuesday and titled "A System Worth Saving," concludes that the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system "continues to perform as well as, and often better than, the rest of the U.S. health-care system on key quality measures," including patient safety, satisfaction and care coordination...

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VA's Hurricane Relief Efforts Extend Beyond Veterans

Johnathon Clinkscales | American Legion | October 5, 2017

The American Legion met with VA leadership on Sept. 29 to learn what humanitarian aid VA is, and has been, providing to hurricane victims in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Florida and Texas..."There are 60 civilian hospitals in Puerto Rico, many of which are still inoperative, don't have power or have serious damage. There's only one hospital that is like the beacon in Puerto Rico and that is the VA medical center - seeing people, taking care of everybody we can and feeding everybody we can."..."We did a lot of preparing and started sending stuff down there before the hurricane. Now we're using these resources to take care of non-veterans and civilians until the hospitals - that are either damaged, incapable of operating or we don't know the condition of - come back into the system and then we'll transfer them. It is certainly necessary for a humanitarian effort like this," Loren said...

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VA, DOD, NCI Partner for Precision Medicine Tumor Screening

Nathan Boroyan | Health IT Analytics | August 26, 2016

A new precision medicine partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will create the nation's first system that routinely screens tumors for gene and protein information in hopes of providing targeted, individualized therapies. The new program, the Applied Proteogenomics Organizational Learning and Outcomes consortium (APOLLO), is part of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative...

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Why the VA Should Stick with VistA and Not Waste $16 Billion on an Attempt to Replace It

This VA leadership lull provides an opportunity for reflection. Specifically, it’s worth asking while we have the time whether Cerner is the right path for the VA to take. While the decision may seem like a no-brainer to some, the VA’s situation is unique and arguably calls for a singular approach to both existing organizational issues and a major healthcare IT decision. Specific to the Cerner decision, what should the new VA secretary consider?

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Digital Heath Platform (DHP) Proof-of-Concept Webinar

Event Details
Type: 
Seminar/Webinar
Date: 
February 28, 2017 - 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Steve Rushing, Senior Strategic Adviser to Georgia Institute of Technology’s Healthcare Interoperability and Integration Innovation Lab (I3L), will present methodology and technology insights drawn from the public-private collaboration that built the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Digital Health Platform (DHP) strategy proof-of-concept model. Read More »