Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)

See the following -

Harris Corporation Solution To Help Improve Communications Between Veterans And U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs

Press Release | MicroPact, Harris Corporation | September 25, 2013

Harris to provide enterprise Correspondence Tracking Software across Veterans Affairs.
Will improve efficiency in handling thousands of daily inquiries and requests.
Three-year, $8 million contract awarded under T4 contract vehicle. Read More »

If Shutdown Persists, VA Will Cut Off Claims Payments To Vets On Nov. 1

Bob Brewin | Nextgov | October 9, 2013

If the government shutdown persists until late October, the Veterans Affairs Department will cut off disability, pension, compensation and education claims to 5.18 million veterans, surviving spouses and children on Nov. 1, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki told a hearing of the House VA Committee Wednesday. Read More »

Jon Stewart On The VA’s Hand-Cranked Disability Claims File System

Bob Brewin | Nextgov | April 5, 2013

Last night, in his second “Daily Show” episode focused on the Veterans Affairs Department, comedian Jon Stewart illustrated the disability claims backlog -- which stands at 885,068 this week -- with a look at the Veterans Benefits Administration office in Winston-Salem, N.C., where mountains of paper files threaten the structural integrity of the building and the safety of employees. Read More »

Key Lawmaker Wants To Ban VA Bonuses For Five Years

Bob Brewin | Nextgov | May 8, 2013

The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee proposed legislation that would ban all bonuses for senior executives in the Veterans Affairs Department for the next five years. The move by Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., is in response to VA’s disability claims backlog and patient deaths in VA hospitals. Read More »

Lawmakers Urge VA To Keep Better Records

Patricia Kime | Marine Corps Times | December 6, 2012

Lawmakers are pressing for digitization of military records, and better file sharing among agencies responsible for them, following media reports of missing or inaccurate unit records and the temporary disappearance of 250 files from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. Read More »

Phillip Longman's Senate Testimony Before the The State of VA Health Care Hearings

Phillip Longman | U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs | May 14, 2014

We need to open up the VA and grow it, extending no-questions-asked eligibility not only to all vets but to their family members as well. This not only makes clinical sense, it also makes economic sense. So long as the VA remains one of, if not the most, cost- effective, scientifically driven, integrated health care delivery systems in the country, the more patients it treats, the better for everyone.

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Schumer: DoD & VA Health Records Are Not Compatible & Not All Are Electronic – One Of The Biggest Causes Of VA Benefit Backlog; Senator Will Push Legislation To Create Interoperable Records & Address Almost 15,000 Backlogged Claims In Upstate NY

Press Release | Senator Charles E. Schumer | November 6, 2013

Just ahead of Veteran’s Day, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer called for the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) to create interoperable, electronic health records for service members, in order to address the serious delays in processing almost 15,000 Upstate New York veterans’ disability and other benefits. Read More »

Sen. Schumer Seeks Creation Of Electronic Files For Vets

Staff Writer | The Observer | November 11, 2013

As Veterans Day is a time to remember, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is fighting for veterans' benefits through the Department of Defense and the Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs. Read More »

Sharing Records Called Key To VA Health Care

Jessica Floum | AZ Central | September 1, 2014

...A July audit by the Defense Department's inspector general found that the Defense Department failed to make proper records transfers to the VA. In the Army, 77 percent of records transferred in 2013 were not timely and 28 percent were not complete, the audit said...

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Some Good VA News: Agency Processed Record-Setting 1.3M Claims In Fiscal 2014

Bob Brewin | Nextgov.com | October 9, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs said it processed more than 1.3 million disability compensation and pension claims in fiscal 2014, which ended last week. That’s the highest number in history, surpassing last year’s record-breaking production by more than 150,000 claims...

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Technology Helps VA Disability Claim Decisions, Official Says

Press Release | Department of Defense (DoD) | February 6, 2014

A new initiative between the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments has produced technology to help VA expedite disability claim decisions, a Defense Health Agency senior official told a House panel yesterday. Read More »

The Tragedy Of Roger Baker

David Perera | FierceGovernmentIT | February 19, 2013

Roger Baker's decision to leave the Veterans Affairs Department is, on reflection, a tragedy. Read More »

Transforming Health Care Through A 360-Degree View Of Data

How medical care can be substantially improved through a full spectrum view of all factors that affect health was the topic of Payam Etminani's presentation at the 2019 IDGA Veterans Benefits Conference in Washington D.C. Etminani, the CEO of Bitscopic, argued that the ability to view all health data including social, environmental and genomic information in addition to the traditional clinical measures (vital signs, blood work, history of illness etc), would lead to significant improvement in care. Etminani described how recent advances in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) make combining and using these large and widely varied sets of information possible. Read More »

VA Awards Systems Made Simple Re-Compete Of T4 Veterans Services Network (VETSNET) Development And Maintenance Support Contract

Press Release | Systems Made Simple, Lockheed Martin | December 30, 2014

Systems Made Simple...today announced it has been awarded the re-compete of the Veterans Services Network (VETSNET) Development and Maintenance Support contract under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Transformation Twenty-one Total Technology (T4) contract vehicle.

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VA CIO Roger Baker Resigns - UPDATED

David Perera | FierceGovernmentIT | February 19, 2013

Baker's resignation notice comes shortly after the secretaries of the DoD and the VA announced the end of iEHR development. An insider who spoke on condition of anonymity said Baker's departure is voluntary and not directly tied to the iEHR decision, although the rolling back of a project identified closely with him was a factor. "He's exhausted," the insider said.

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