Health Information Management

House approves VA technology reorganization bill

HIPAA Weekly Advisor, November 7, 2005

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The House unanimously approved a bill that would give the chief information officer (CIO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sweeping authority over information technology, reports Government Computing News (GCN).

Under the legislation, the CIO would have information technology budgets, employees, and assets under his or her direct control. The bill is a response to years of cost overruns and technology failures, reports GCN. In September, Gartner Consulting told Congress that the VA could save $1.7 billion over five years by centralizing information technology operations. Notable VA technology failures include

  • an automated compensation and pension claims processing system has spent 10 years in development
  • $342 million spent for a failed financial management system
  • $300 million spent on an automated personnel system that failed

Click here to read the GCN article.



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