Physician David Blumenthal will lead HHS efforts to direct spending of $19.5 billion in economic stimulus funds for health IT to advance implementation of the nationwide health information infrastructure.
The department plans to release soon requests for proposals for the modernization of two programs -- its foreign intelligence network and enterprise content management system.
The agency is looking for input from industry and the public about modernizing its system for disclosing financial information to be more interactive and streamlined.
S. 3384 would require agencies to report their progress on IT investments so that Congress and OMB would have an early warning system to avert problems before they become too big.
Agencies are increasingly choosing contractors as shared service providers for their modernized financial management systems over federal agencies that provide the same services.
Congress should consider revising privacy laws to ensure that the sensitive data the government collects and uses is appropriately protected, said Linda Koontz, director of information management issues at GAO.
