Catapult takes on IT capital planning, investment services for NSF

Catapult Technology has won a $12 million contract with the National Science Foundation to provide information technology capital planning and investment control/acquisition/portfolio/strategy services.

The contract was won under the GSA’s Schedule 70 vehicle. Catapult will provide services including capital and budget planning, business process improvement and assistance with acquisition of equipment and services, the company said in a release.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

TASC wins $40.5M Navy contract for cost estimating

TASC Inc. will provide cost-estimating services to the Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command under a $40.5 million contract.

The contract has a base of one-year and two option years and two award-term years for a total of five years.

The services will help SPAWAR develop business and investment strategies “to strengthen the Navy’s information dominance capability,” said Tom Kilcline, vice president of TASC’s defense business unit.

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."

Sage Management Enterprise to take on sensor engineering project

Sage Management Enterprise LLC has won a $8 million contract with the U.S. Air Force to provide multi-integration sensor engineering reports.

Under the cost-plus-fixed-fee contract, Sage will provide the services necessary to develop and manage sensors, develop system specifications and interface standards, develop data standards and concepts of operation, the Defense Department said in a release.