Management

What Public Health Lessons Need to Be Learned from the COVID Crisis?

Dr. Richard Stone joins the podcast to discuss his book and running VHA during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic.

Tech

Inter-Agency Effort Targets the Half of Veterans Who Never Engage With VA

The resource hub out of the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs is part of a larger White House initiative to better respond to the life experiences of Americans.

Tech

Customer Service, Life Experiences and Technology

Nextgov's Aaron Boyd joins the podcast to discuss his series on CX in government.

Tech

House Lawmakers Coalesce Around Bipartisan Fixes to VA’s Electronic Health Records System

The top Democrat and Republican on the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee have started bipartisan negotiations to address the Veterans Affairs Department’s troubled rollout of its new electronic health record system.

Management

Senate Republicans Fail in Bid to Block VA From Providing Abortions

Lawmakers called the rule allowing limited access to the procedure illegal and damaging to workforce morale.

Management

VA’s New Cyber Apprenticeship Program Will Focus on Training for Underserved Veterans

The VA’s initiative, set to begin this summer, “is really designed to attract that diverse and inclusive cybersecurity talent,” a department official told Nextgov.

Tech

VA Paid for But Didn't Deploy an Emergency Communications System

Despite spending over $8.5 million on a new emergency communication system contract, a new report has revealed that the Veterans Health Administration failed to establish the network by a deadline that passed more than three years ago.

Workforce

AFGE and VA Reach a Tentative Deal on a New Contract

The agreement comes just weeks after an arbitrator found that the Veterans Affairs Department engaged in bad faith bargaining with the federal employee union.

Management

The Veterans Benefits Administration is a Good Candidate for Tailored Reforms

Additional hiring flexibilities and compensation changes would allow the agency to respond faster to new legal requirements.

Workforce

Fixing Veterans' Preference Can Fix Federal Hiring

Angela Bailey and Jeffrey Neal join the podcast to discuss personnel modernization.

Workforce

The Federal Government Can Expand Opportunities for Veterans and Simplify Hiring, Too

A less complex hiring process that puts merit front and center would eliminate the need for most of the 102 or more hiring authorities currently in place.

Oversight

Veterans Affairs Committee Dems Offer Bills to Streamline VA Operations

The two proposals would seek to consolidate business functions at the agency and independently verify and validate IT modernization efforts.

Pay & Benefits

VA Will No Longer Use Its Marquee Civil Service Reform Law to Punish Employees

The Biden administration unwinds a key Trump legislative victory, citing a series of setbacks the law has endured.

Workforce

VA Is Hiring at a Record Rate. Employees Say It's Still Not Enough.

Nearly every VA employee thinks its facility is understaffed, according to a new survey, despite the department's unprecedented hiring spree.

Workforce

VA Claims Progress in Union Talks. The Union Begs to Differ.

AFGE officials say department management continues to push illegal proposals in contract negotiations, and that claims the parties have reached “tentative agreements” are fabricated.

Management

Veteran Deaths Lead Lawmakers to Call for VA to Renegotiate Oracle EHR Contract

Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester said that VA should “negotiate an entirely new contract” with Oracle Cerner following the revelation that the EHR system has resulted in the deaths of four veterans.

Workforce

VA Broke Settlement Agreement, Continued Bad Faith Bargaining, Arbitrator Finds

The American Federation of Government Employees and the Veterans Affairs Department have negotiated fruitlessly over a new union contract for more than a year.

Defense

Why Combat Veterans Are Turning to Oxygen Therapy for PTSD

The unapproved and, to some, unproven treatment is attracting many PTSD patients for whom other treatments have failed.

Tech

VA Announces Winners of $20M Challenge to Prevent Veteran Suicides

The 10 winners of the VA’s Mission Daybreak challenge developed innovative solutions that leveraged technology, artificial intelligence and mobile apps to help reduce the number of veteran suicides.