[1]Sen. Tester pushes new VA CIO James Gfrerer for priorities by Billy
  Mitchell:

    James Gfrerer hasn't been CIO of the Department of Veteran Affairs
    long, but he's already under the close watch of Congress.
    Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., penned [2]a letter Jan. 11 asking Gfrerer
    to "provide a comprehensive and prioritized list of VA IT projects"
    along with any "metrics or explanations of processes that are used
    to prioritize these projects."
    "There is no doubt that insufficient resources, a chronic lack of
    transparency, and an inability to effectively prioritize countless
    competing objectives have led to serious questions about VA's
    ability to meet the standard of technology necessary to serve our
    nation's veterans," Tester wrote.
    Within that letter, Tester lists the myriad problems VA's Office of
    Information and Technology has struggled recently: the ongoing
    [3]work to modernize the department's electronic health record and
    make it interoperable with the Pentagon's; the recent debacle
    surrounding a software issue that has [4]left many veterans without
    housing stipends under the GI Bill; and others.
    "I am eager to work with you to solve the litany of problems we have
    seen from OI&T, and I genuinely believe that we can do so," wrote
    Tester, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
    "However, any progress towards achieving this goal is dependent on
    transparency from VA about the Department's true IT needs and the
    challenges you face in funding and execution."
    Tester is likely relieved there's finally a permanent CIO in place
    at the VA, as so are many of his [5]colleagues on Capitol Hill. The
    department has been without an official IT chief since the change in
    administration in Jan. 2017, when LaVerne Council resigned. She was
    followed, on an acting basis by Rob Foster and then Scott Blackburn,
    who [6]resigned in April. At that point, [7]Camilo Sandoval, who had
    been a controversial staffer on President Donald Trump's 2016
    campaign, stepped in to fill the spot.
    The president appointed Gfrerer to the CIO position in July. He was
    [8]confirmed Jan. 3 on the final day of the 115th Congress.

  I've long opined that real support of the U.S. military isn't in
  displays, kneeling or standing, or words. It is in what we as a Nation
  do. First and foremost has to be the VA and health care.

  The Pentagon and the VA still have incompatible systems AFAIK. There is
  still a massive amount of paperwork that is still on actual paper
  AFAIK. And there is still a woeful budget for military and veteran
  health care including PTSD support.

  IT should be in front of fixing some of these major problems, but
  without adequate funding there is only so much that can be done.
  Also on:

  [9]Twitter
    __________________________________________________________________

  My original entry is here: [10]Sen. Tester pushes new VA CIO James
  Gfrerer for priorities. It posted Wed, 16 Jan 2019 14:51:23 +0000.
  Filed under: politics,

References

  1. https://www.fedscoop.com/james-gfrerer-veterans-affairs-cio-jon-tester-letter/
  2. https://www.veterans.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2019-01-11 Letter to Gfrerer re OIT Concerns.pdf
  3. https://www.fedscoop.com/va-ehr-cerner-10-billion-robert-wilkie/
  4. https://www.fedscoop.com/trump-signs-bill-creating-group-oversee-vas-gi-bill-software-efforts/
  5. https://www.fedscoop.com/va-ehr-modernization-house-veterans-affairs/
  6. https://www.fedscoop.com/acting-va-cio-scott-blackburn-resigns/
  7. https://www.fedscoop.com/camilo-sandoval-va-acting-cio/
  8. https://www.fedscoop.com/gfrerer-droegemeier-senate-confirmations/
  9. https://twitter.com/prjorgensen/status/1085550207415275521
 10. https://www.prjorgensen.com/?p=2559

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