VA to Revamp Its Technology Management

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By Steve Vogel

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 19, 2009

The Department of Veterans Affairs said it is overhauling its information technology management to try to more quickly correct problems with its computer systems, officials said yesterday.

The overhaul is in part a response to major problems with the computerized scheduling system used at VA hospitals.

"By halting programs that fail to meet their delivery milestones, we will prevent wasteful spending and demand accountability from everyone involved in delivering and supporting the technologies that will help transform the VA," Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said in a statement.

Roger Baker, assistant secretary for information and technology, ordered the overhaul, saying it will help the department to eventually develop a system that will allow the VA and the Defense Department to electronically exchange records, a process now done manually on paper.

Baker said he was uncertain what impact the changes would have on the backlog of unprocessed disability claims, which is approaching 1 million cases and has drawn the ire of members of Congress and other critics.

"We want to ensure that claims are decided in an expeditious, accurate and timely manner," Deputy Undersecretary for the Veterans Benefit Administration Mike Walcoff told a House Veterans' Affairs subcommittee yesterday.