Four win Air Force acqusition contracts worth millions

Four companies have one contracts of varying value to provide professional acquisition services to the Air Force at four of its bases.

While each contract varies in value, each of the four are cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursable contracts and the total value is nearly $40 million.

ManTech wins $96M contract to support Customs and Border Protection

ManTech International has won a single-award, $96 million blanket purchase agreement to provide information and enforcement training services to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection organization.

The agreement, which was awarded under the company’s GSA schedule, has a one-year base and four option years.

Big data fuels cross-country acquisition

Haystax Technology Inc. of San Jose, Calif., has acquired Digital Sandbox, a McLean, Va., provider of data analytics products for the public safety, law enforcement and corporate security markets.

The marriage builds out Haystax big data capabilities, which have been focused on helping intelligence, defense and security customers handle ever increasing volumes of information.

KEYW evolves its strategy on way to dealmaker of the year award

2012 was a good year for dealmaking for KEYW Corp., with the company buying four companies: Dilijent Solutions, Rsignia, Sensage and, the grand jewel, Poole & Associates. But what was the strategy behind each acquisition? Why were these good buys for the company?

First and foremost, “each one filled a particular need we had in one area,” said John Krobath, chief financial officer of KEYW Corp.

Who wins and loses in fiscal 2014 spending?

Deltek’s “Clarity” highlights event Wednesday morning was filled with market snapshots, talk of sequestration and fiscal 2014 predictions.

During one of the presentations, Deltek vice president, research, Kevin Plexico spoke of 2014 versus 2013 in terms of discretionary spending, which is sure to impact contractors.

GOP senators push for health reboot

Six Republican senators want to revamp the health IT policy around the “meaningful use” program, which reimburses health care providers for going paperless.

Government Health IT is reporting that the six senators believe the program has been hindered, and they want feedback from providers on areas of concern such as billing issues, interoperability and privacy.

Boston bombing reveals IT gaps

The response to the bombing at the Boston Marathon finish line this week held plenty of positives for coordination and planning, but it also highlighted a glaring weakness in that patient records were hard to come by.

David Delano, project director at Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, said the next phase of the state’s health information exchange initiative, known as Mass HIway, will have a query capability for providers that participate. So, if a patient from another participating system comes in during an emergency, their records can be accessed, he told MedCity News.

That kind of access to medical records during an emergency like the bombing in Boston is the holy grail of health information exchange networks, Delano said.

Health IT funding is hot, hot, hot

Funding for health IT startups hit nearly $500 million during the first quarter of 2013, according to a new report from Mercom Capital Group, and the number of companies receiving funding more than doubled from last year.

Some of the areas getting funding include telehealth, mobile health and scheduling apps for patients, according to an article by VentureBeat.

SRA wins a slew of contracts to serve VA's health programs

SRA International has won a slew of contracts totaling $35 million in support of the Veterans Affairs Department’s health care programs.

The company will support the department in a number of ways:

SRA will deliver a customer relationship management web self-service solution that will provide user-focused, on-demand access to VA services and benefits for veterans. In addition, the company will develop web services that provide data services, messaging and Defense Department interoperability.

Inside SRA's acquisition strategy

At the end of 2012, when most of the year’s mergers and acquisitions looked to be over, SRA International acquired MorganFranklin’s national security solutions business in a move to bolster its capabilities and its contract vehicle opportunities.

Of course, there’s a lot more to the story than that. SRA was drawn to the MorganFranklin business because integrated communications in the defense arena is a key market for the company, said George Batsakis, senior vice president of SRA’s defense group.