Weekly Roundup January 15, 2016

The IBM Center's Weekly Roundup highlights articles and insights that we found interesting for the week ending January 15.

Daniel Chenok

Need to start Presidential transition planning early:  https://fcw.com/articles/2016/01/13/early-transition-noble.aspx... While presidential candidates are girding for the first primaries in coming weeks, Government Executivereports that a quarter of top executive branch positions are already vacant.  You can never start a transition too early. The wheels are in motion for the next handoff of presidential power in 2017, and while government has plenty to do, outside partnerships are forming a key part of the "let's not mess this transition up" coalition.

OPM releases new guidance on employee engagement for government:  http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/management/agency/2016/01/14/opm-releases-new-employee-engagement-guidance/78788760/

USAJobs upgrades coming: http://federalnewsradio.com/workforce/2016/01/new-pathways-hiring-toolkits-coming-hr-specialists-month/

Michael J. Keegan

DHS tries agile approach in Silicon Valley-based R&D effort. The Department of Homeland Security is about to get more agile, thanks to the Cyber Security Division's plan to put into play a new procurement idea in Silicon Valley.

What CIOs really want from contractors. Three senior federal IT officials shared some dos and don'ts for contractors. They agreed that the problem of outdated and redundant legacy systems -- encapsulated by Natural Resources Conservation Service CIO Ray Coleman's quip, "[Expletive], we have 10 systems doing the same thing" -- is ripe territory for contractors to help. 

A plea: How can we get more resources and talent for post-award contract management? Steve Kelman looks to start a conversation around the too-often-ignored task of managing government contract. 

What DHS and the FBI learned from the OPM breach. "Convenience and accessibility has been prioritized over critical security practices," at OPM, according to a Dec. 23 alert distributed to cleared contractors by the Defense Security Service on behalf of DHS and the FBI.  

Next Generation ACO Model Increases Access to Telehealth Services.CMS has announced that 21 organizations initially will participate in its Next Generation Accountable Care Organization Model. Unlike other ACO models, the Next Generation model allows for flexibility in using telehealth services to treat patients in non-traditional care settings. FierceHealthcare et al.

Study: Twitter Can Provide Patient Perspective on Medical Errors. A new study finds that Twitter could "provide an opportunity for health systems and providers to identify and communicate with patients who have experienced a medical error." According to the study, an analysis of about 1,000 tweets enabled researchers, in most cases, to identity the type of medical error experienced and the emotional response. FierceHealthcare, Journal of Patient Safety.

Next Generation ACO Model Increases Access to Telehealth Services.CMS has announced that 21 organizations initially will participate in its Next Generation Accountable Care Organization Model. Unlike other ACO models, the Next Generation model allows for flexibility in using telehealth services to treat patients in non-traditional care settings. FierceHealthcare et al.

Study: Twitter Can Provide Patient Perspective on Medical Errors. A new study finds that Twitter could "provide an opportunity for health systems and providers to identify and communicate with patients who have experienced a medical error." According to the study, an analysis of about 1,000 tweets enabled researchers, in most cases, to identity the type of medical error experienced and the emotional response. FierceHealthcare, Journal of Patient Safety.

Health IT Experts Weigh In on Trends for 2016. Doug Fridsma, president and CEO of the American Medical Informatics Association, John Halamka, CIO of the Beth Israel Deaconess Health System, and Lynne Thomas Gordon, CEO of the American Health Information Management Association, spoke with iHealthBeat about the biggest issues and challenges facing the health IT sector this year.

John Kamensky

Good News for IRS.  According to Federal News Radio:  “The IRS is confident the upcoming tax filing season will go more smoothly than the last, thanks to an additional $290 million in congressional funding this fiscal year. . . . The agency will use the extra dollars, in part, to hire about 1,000 customer service representatives for this tax season, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told reporters Jan. 14. It’s the first time in the past six years that the agency has received a notable bump in funding from Congress.”

Good News/Bad News for VA.. NextGov has a good news/bad news story on the reduction of the backlog of disability claims by veterans – the backlog is down, but the cost of the system that made it possible was double the initial estimate.  VA says it is using the agile method to develop its approach – which is iterative; GAO says there is no plan for a clear path forward and that VA should use an incremental approach.

ICYMI -- Holiday Cheers.  The White House hosted a ceremony before the holidays last month that highlighted a number of good news stories in government.  The ceremony included remarks by the White House chief of staff, the Director of OMB, and the Director of OPM.

The event was well-covered in the media.

• Federal News Radio highlighted a new presidential executive order that includes new initiatives for recruiting and training new senior career executives.
• Government Executive highlighted the executive order’s raising of caps on how much agencies can spend on senior executive recognition awards.  It also linked to the list of 2015 Presidential Rank Award recipients, announced at the event.
• The Washington Post focused on the first-ever presidential customer service awards presented at the ceremony

The Business of Government Radio Show: Dr. Reginald Brothers, Under Secretary for Science and Technology, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. What are the strategic priorities for DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate (S&T)? What is the purpose of the national conversation on Homeland Security technology? How is DHS building strong and healthy leadership culture within its S&T directorate? Join host Michael Keegan as he explores these questions and more with Dr. Reggie Brothers, Under Secretary for Science and Technology, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday at 11 a.m., and Friday at 1 PM, on Federal News Radio 1500AM WFED. If you can't wait, though, you can listen to (or download) this week's program and all our previous interviews at businessofgovernment.org.