Page 24 - FCW, May 15, 2016

Veterans Affairs
Cloud
VA’s April 4 cloud procurement request for information seems like a big deal. What’s cloud going to do for VA? The RFI went out because this is part of our new strategy of “buy first,” in particular to reduce our complexity. As you may or may not be aware, we have over 365 data cen- ters within the VA and 800-plus custom applications. The amount of data storage, the locations of those things, all those things say: “Wow, we need to simplify, and we also need to secure.” We are looking at the cloud as our way of bringing on some new [buying] capability.
Productivity tools are moving us away from this aligned service structure to more of a virtual capability. The cloud is one of the ways that we will get there. We also are really interested, as much as we can, to partner with other agen- cies within the federal government.
Our requirements may be a little more extreme than some, but certainly, if there’s an opportunity where we can [partner], we will. We think that our buying power helps everybody.
One of the big traps in government is paying for modernization because you’ve got to run the old stuff while you spin up the new stuff. How are you addressing that with cloud?
It’s always interesting because there is that tight line on sustainment, and so one of the strategies that I have my principal deputy, Ron Thompson, working on is what are the right things to go first, second, third and fourth that could give us the savings, which could then go into parlay- ing the pay-for.
That’s how the priority is being looked at, looking at those things that are less risk, easier to do, proven to do. And that, frankly, will help not only the workforce within the VA, but also help us move forward as we look at our material weaknesses and [how to eliminate] them.
Future of VistA
You were asked on Capitol Hill recently about your decision to tap the brakes on VistA modernization. Why did you decide to do that, and how is it going? Has a group been tasked with looking more widely at potential solutions?
Everyone says it’s like tapping the brakes. That’s not how we see it. VistA Evolution is still going. VistA Evolution was four core parts, and the team is now working on VistA Four. VistA Four was to be completed in 2018. There has been really no change in what VistA Four was going to do.
Dr. [David] Shulkin, who heads up the [Veterans Health Administration], and myself, after reviewing our business
case and also after seeing a number of changes that are happening in the environment around women veter- ans, about care in the community and transformation in technology...we wanted to leave the organization with a strategy for the future beyond 2018. That’s really what we’re doing.
My organization, under my leadership, is really coming up with the next digital health platform. Working with Dr. Shulkin and his team, they’re looking at it and understand- ing the viability, what would make sense for them [and] how far, with the different options that we’ve laid out, they would want to consider [going]. Then based on that, we would put forward what the change strategy would be for the organization.
It doesn’t necessarily say there will be no such thing as VistA because you always have to have an [electronic health record] as a component. It does say that we are moving to or thinking about health as a platform and thinking about all the things that you need to do to pro- vide good health care.
Isthereapath—andisitadesirableone—togetto the point where you have just one instance of VistA? Even as far back as your confirmation hearing, data interoperability was a big issue for you. It seems you wouldn’t choose to build it from scratch.
Right, and frankly, that’s the look that Dr. Shulkin and I wanted to have. If we didn’t have limitations, what would we do? The need to have semantic interoperability is real. That’s what we’ve got to really reach for. How do we do that?
24 May 15, 2016 FCW.COM
EVERYONE SAYS IT’S LIKE TAPPING THE BRAKES.
THAT’S NOT HOW WE
SEE IT.VISTA EVOLUTION IS STILL GOING.