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Bill would limit Veterans Affairs IT spending

EHR Connection, October 24, 2005

A bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Buyer (R-IN) and introduced in the House on October 17 proposes to limit spending on information technology (IT) in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and give full technology budget control to the VA's chief information officer (CIO).

The legislation is a response to VA spending of more than $10 billion on IT in the past decade to upgrade services, reports Federal Computer Week (FCW). During this time, VA encountered several costly IT problems.

To limit this, the VA CIO would be required to outline an overall IT strategy. All IT spending items would then have to be supported by this strategy and justified to Congress. Periodic progress reports on the savings generated and increased efficiency of the VA would also be required.

Buyer said that there would be a high "cost of letting the bureaucracy maintain the status quo," and that the current VA "lacks the authority to provide a better service to the veteran," reports FCW.

Click here to read the FCW article.

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