The Department of Veterans Affairs recently held a pre-solicitation industry day to meet with technology vendors ahead of acquiring a new medical appointment scheduling system in order to improve the quality of the proposals it receives and ultimately reduce the time to field new technologies.
Potential solutions must seamlessly interface with VA’s VistA electronic health record. The VA used the event to meet face to face with vendors to explain business needs and discuss industry best practices as well as VA-specific challenges.
The department will be under intense pressure to nail this acquisition, not only because veteran health care is at stake but also because last Fall’s botched roll out of the Affordable Care Act insurance enrollment website.
The VA noted that its scheduling technical requirements are complex and require clear, well-articulated communication to ensure comprehensive understanding by industry and potential vendors.”We need lasting, long-term reforms, including a complete overhaul to replace the outdated technology for our scheduling system,” said Acting Secretary Sloan Gibson.
