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.

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.

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.

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.

Sequestration's pain is yet to come

Once the 2013 budget was settled, industry and government breathed a sigh of relief. The crisis was averted. We have some budget visibility, at least for the next few months.

Yes, sequestration kicked in, but, hey, it hasn’t been that bad, right?

But I think some folks have forgotten that sequestration was never going to have a sudden impact. It would take weeks and months before its impact would occur. That’s why, so far, sequestration has really only been talk: "This is what we might do," "This is what can happen."

4 win $404M DISA IT support contract

Four small businesses have won a five-year, $404.1 million contract to provide support services to the Defense Information Systems Agency’s IT Enterprise. And one task order worth $111.3 million has already been awarded to one of them.

The four companies on the DISA IT Enteprirse Support Services or DESS contract are:

Raytheon wins $30M Navy contract to improve battlefield sensors

Raytheon Co. has won a $30 million contract modification with the U.S. Navy for design agent and engineering services in support of the Cooperative Engagement Capabilities program, or CEC.

This modification is cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-only, the Defense Department said in a release.

Maybe there's an easier way to find cloud vendors

If you’re an enterprise customer looking to find the right cloud vendors, then InspectorJones.com might be the right stop for you, according to The Sacramento Bee. Inspector Jones is said to give companies a way to find the best fit for their company, focusing on reviews of cloud service quality. These reviews cover things like security measures, compliance with standards, company health, data centers, and general track record, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Damian Bramanis, Inspector Jones founder, described what it was like beginning such a venture, telling the Bee that the “search was painstaking. There are a lot of cloud vendors, and it's not easy to figure out who's good and who's not."

GD Electric Boat wins $9.5M contract mod for sub work

General Dynamics Electric Boat has won a $9.5 million contract modification with the U.S. Navy for maintenance and modernization work on the submarine USS Hartford.

This modification is part of a $67 million contract awarded to General Dynamics Electric Boat in April 2012.

Under the contract, the company will perform work at the company’s shipyard in Groton, Conn., General Dynamics said in a release. The USS Hartford is a Los Angeles-class attack submarine.

Work is expected to be completed by September.

BAE names new SVP of government relations

BAE Systems has named Frank Ruggiero senior vice president of government relations, where he oversee the company’s relationships with members of Congress, the Defense Department, and other cabinet-level organizations and state government leaders.

He replaces Erin Moseley, who was promoted to president of the company’s Support Solutions sector in the middle of February.