Weekly Roundup: October 12-16, 2015

Maryland StateStat Tweaked by New Governor. The Baltimore Sun reports that the nationally-recognized program of data-driven progress reviews, pioneered by then-governor Martin O’Malley, has been tweaked by his successor, Larry Hogan. According to the Sun: “Hogan issued an executive order creating the Governor’s Office of Performance Improvement, calling it an "important step" in his administration's effort to reduce waste and bureaucracy. Staffing has been reduced and the scope of the office has been expanded. Utah On-Line. According to Route 50, the state of Utah offers more than 1,100 different services online. Utah’s Gov. Gary Herbert touts the state’s proactive approach to digital government services, noting that there is 95 percent internet connectivity in the state and that most of the poorer residents rely on smartphones. As a result: ‘smartphone reliance opened the door for the state to realign its strategy to serve residents who need to access public assistance programs like food stamps and Medicaid.” 92 Goals, Two Years, and a Network. Federal News Radio reports that OMB has released the Obama Administration’s final set of agency two-year priority goals, required by law. In addition, OMB Director Shawn Donovan announced the creation of a cross-agency “Leaders Delivery Network” of agency-level goal leaders, so they can learn from and support each other as they work on delivering on their respective agency goals. Predictive Analytics at Work. Federal News Radio reports that the Department of Health and Human Services used predictive analytic tools on its Medicare data to ferret out $712 million in false billing claims, leading to charges this past summer against 243 people. HHS’s new chief data officer, Caryl Brzymialkiewicz, describes how her team did this. It’s Not All About Technology. Federal Computer Week reports on a discussion panel of CIOs. "It's not about having a lot of history in IT," said Agriculture Department CIO Jonathan Alboum, at an Association for Federal Information Resources Management event. "You have to translate between the IT world and business." Interestingly, the panelists felt that the recently-adopted Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) gives them the standing to have a foot in each of these camps. Michael Keegan Challenge.gov and change in government. Steve Kelman contends that challenges and other pay-for-success procurements are proof that government can reinvent for the better. Here's what VA's decisive new CIO has planned. LaVerne Council is preparing to reveal a new cybersecurity strategy and an overall direction for IT operations at the Department of Veterans Affairs. AHA: Inadequate Interoperability Hinders Several Aspects of Care. A recent report by the American Hospital Association says that the U.S. health care system's lack of interoperability negatively affects care coordination, patient engagement, and reporting of public health, quality and safety data. AHA recommends that officials develop more specific standards for the use of health IT. EHR Intelligence, FierceHealthIT Senate Bill Aims To Expand Telehealth Services for Veterans, Sens. Joni Ernst and Mazie Hirono have introduced a bill that would allow Department of Veterans Affairs physicians to provide telehealth services across state lines to veterans in their homes. Currently, VA only can waive state licensure requirements if the patient and physician both are located at a federally owned facility. FierceHealthIT et al. Health 2.0 Confronts Entrenched Health Challenges At the 9th annual Health 2.0 conference last week in Santa Clara, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy talked about how "technology can actually help us tackle so many problems in health that we see as insurmountable." * * * * * The Business of Government Radio Show. What are the key strategic priorities for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)? How is the DHS Unity of Effort initiative going? What is DHS doing to improve its operational performance? Join host Michael Keegan and he explores these questions and more with Alejandro Mayorkas, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Broadcast Schedule: The show airs Monday at 11 a.m., and Wednesday at noon, 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.