OIT 2017 Year in Review

Embracing Modernization

As a Veteran and a public servant, I care deeply about VA—and not just because I work here. I receive my own health care and benefits from VA, and choosing to receive care at VA is a choice I am proud of. I believe in our mission and I believe in making VA the best choice for all Veterans. I understand the issues Veterans face, and I see how the Office of Information and Technology (OIT) impacts the care and benefits Veterans receive every day.

Back in 2016, I experienced the beginnings of OIT’s transformation and the impact it could have on Veteran care. I shattered my forearm in a biking accident and had to have emergency surgery. Before I could undergo the operation, I needed an appointment with my primary care team—the Orange Team at the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center—to sign off on the surgery.

I called to schedule an appointment and was told there were no openings until the following week, but I urgently needed an appointment in the next 48 hours. The scheduler made several phone calls, and, after I sent a secure message through MyHealtheVet to my primary care physician at 6:00 that evening, I had an appointment for 8:00 the next morning.

My first thought was, “Wow! Same-day access has arrived at the D.C. VAMC.” In truth, I was wrong. I was able to get an appointment because the scheduler and my primary care physician jumped through hoops to make it happen.

We should not put our clinicians in a position where they must work around the system instead of with it.

What if I hadn’t pushed for an appointment? Some Veterans in need might hear that nothing was available and hang up. What if the scheduler had been too busy to make additional calls? We should not put our clinicians in a position where they must work around the system instead of with it. They should not have to jump through hoops so that Veterans get the care they need.

Since then, we have put processes in place to make same-day care a reality. We created multiple operational efficiencies in community care through technology, like the Virtru Pro secure file exchange system. This allows us to share a Veteran’s health information with the private sector, and clinicians tell us that it is saving lives. We improved scheduling through the Veteran Appointment Request app, which allows Veterans to schedule primary care and mental health appointments on their mobile phones.

INCREASED VETERAN TRUST

These changes now make it easier for me to get an appointment at VA and in the community than it is for my wife to get an appointment with her primary care physician in the private sector. I haven’t been the only one to benefit. Other Veterans are feeling the difference, too. We increased Veteran trust in VA from 47 percent to 70 percent in just two years, and while that is nowhere near good enough, we are moving in the right direction.

I have been at VA for three years. First, I led the MyVA transformation, then I was Interim Deputy Secretary, and now I am the Executive in Charge for VA’s Office of Information and Technology. I come from the mission side; I know VA, I know people, and I know transformation.

...we have put processes in place to make same-day care a reality

OIT’s transformation is about putting the right people to the right functions to deliver the technology that best supports VA in providing the care, benefits, and services that Veterans have earned. The organizational changes are in place. OIT has a solid structure and operates as an agile and efficient information technology (IT) organization. But we are not done.

VA Secretary Dr. David Shulkin is committed to modernizing VA and making it a world-class service provider and the top customer service agency in the Federal Government. That commitment puts information technology at the core of VA’s modernization success.

I also know modernizing an agency of our size and geographic breadth is no easy task—but it is not a task that is out of our reach.

During my time as Executive in Charge of OIT, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from a variety of colleagues. This team comprises smart, hardworking people who are dedicated to upholding VA’s mission and working with our business partners to create the best experience for all Veterans. As we advance Secretary Shulkin’s modernization strategy, we will create a more efficient technological backbone, enabling our colleagues across VA to provide exemplary service to Veterans.

The most important thing one can do as a leader is to give people something worth following, worth joining. A leader must have the guts to stand alone. A leader must be easy to follow. That is what creates a movement, and movements continue long after the leaders who created them are gone.

Transforming OIT and modernizing IT is a movement. We need everyone to look around, recognize that change is happening, embrace it, and join us. We will continue to drive rapid change by setting bold goals. If we set bold goals and miss, we’ll make much more progress than we would by setting smaller goals and exceeding them.

Our transformation touches every aspect of our work, and it has changed the way we serve Veterans for the better. I know we will continue to make leaps in progress if we work as a team, remain transparent and accountable, and support Secretary Shulkin’s modernization goals.

I encourage you all to join our movement and look forward to seeing just how far VA can go in 2018.

Scott Blackburn
Executive in Charge
Office of Information and Technology
Department of Veterans Affairs