IT weaknesses dating to 2005 at heart of VA wait list scandal
May 27, 2014 · 5:15 pm The so-called “secret wait lists” that may have led to dozens of deaths at a growing number of Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals around the country have their roots in an insecure web of IT systems that have allowed the practice of creating informal waiting lists to go on for nearly a decade, a FedScoop investigation has revealed. Recent media reports have highlighted claims from whistleblowers that VA officials have falsified records and created secret wait lists that may have contributed to the deaths of some veterans. So far, VA’s inspector general has not found any direct evidence linking the wait lists to any deaths.
VA adds to IT executive team
May 02, 2014 · 3:28 pm The Department of Veterans Affairs has in the last few months brought on three new senior IT executives, including a deputy chief information officer for a newly created Office of Customer Advocacy. In an email to VA employees, obtained by FedScoop, VA Chief Information Officer Stephen Warren welcomed Jacquelyn Patillo as deputy CIO for the Office of Customer Advocacy, an office recently established to coordinate access to the Office of Information Technology. Patillo served previously as both the corporate customer advocate and the executive director for field operations for the service delivery and engineering division — one of the seven major departments within the OIT.
House committee targets lack of transparency at VA
March 24, 2014 · 5:44 pm The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs today launched a website dedicated to documenting what it characterizes as a “lack of transparency” at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Known as the VA Honesty Project, the website is keeping a running tab on dozens of incidents in which VA allegedly refused to provide information to journalists and the public. The incidents range from the massive data breaches at the agency to questions about patient safety at various VA hospitals.
