Two federal programs honored for innovations

Two federal programs were among this year's winners of awards designed to recognize creativity and innovation in government.

The Fish and Wildlife Service's Grassroots Conservation Program and the Veterans Affairs Department's electronic health records system received the Innovations in American Government Award at a Monday dinner in Washington, along with five programs at the state level. The seven winners were selected from 18 finalists and more than 1,000 applicants. The awards honor projects that not only are creative but show measurable results and can serve as models for other jurisdictions. The $100,000 in prize money is meant to support the spread of the innovative ideas to other areas of government.

The awards program, founded in 1986, is run by the Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government.

The Fish and Wildlife Service's conservation program has forged collaboration among landowners, other local stakeholders and the government to restore the Blackfoot River Valley watershed in southern Montana. The program boasts measurable results - for example, restoring 38 miles of streams and fisheries and 2,600 acres of wetlands.

"The real innovation of this program is the spirit of cooperation among private land owners and the government," said Patricia McGinnis, president and chief executive officer of the Council for Excellence in Government, in a statement. "This is an unusual and vital accomplishment and a model for other communities in the American West."

The VA electronic records system is called VistA. VA Secretary R. James Nicholson said the system is essential to providing patients and doctors with safe, reliable and instantaneous information via an electronic database that acts much like a spreadsheet.

VistA allows health care providers to access patient records, order prescriptions and suggest clinical advice -- which the patient can access from home using a portal called My HealtheVet. A bar code medication system also was implemented to prevent errors in the distribution of prescription drugs.

The system scans bar codes located on both a patients' wristband and medication to ensure it is properly distributed "at the right time and to the right person," said Jonathan Perlin, VA undersecretary for health.

Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine, ranking Democratic member of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health, praised the program, stating that it "remains the technological force behind VA's state of the art care" and "can save lives and money."

The other five award winners were: the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department's Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit; the Mayor's Charter Schools Initiative in Indianapolis; the state of Connecticut's Supportive Housing Pilots program; the state of Massachusetts' teaming child welfare practice; and the Urban Academies Program of the School Board of Broward County, Fla. A full description of the programs can be found on the Council for Excellence in Government's Web site. Daniel Pulliam and National Journal's Technology Daily contributed to this report.