Morning Headlines 6/30/14

Report Finds Health Unit of V.A. Needs Overhaul

A review of the Veterans Health Administration conducted by Rob Nabors, deputy chief of staff to President Obama, finds that VA leadership “is not prepared to deliver effective day-to-day management.” The report says that inept managers and a corrosive and non-transparent culture across the system have eroded the VHA’s ability to accomplish its mission. Nabors concluded by recommending that the VHA be completely restructured with a focus on transparency and accountability.

Obama to nominate former Proctor & Gamble CEO as Veterans Affairs secretary

In related news, former Proctor & Gamble CEO Bob McDonald will be nominated to take over as the secretary of the VA. McDonald graduated from West Point and then spent five years in the Army before getting out and moving into the corporate world. He was ousted from Proctor & Gamble last year, after a 33-year career, following a string of disappointing quarters that drove stock prices down and eventually attracted activist investor pressure.

Cerner is going after a huge government contract

Cerner announces that it will partner with Leidos (formerly SAIC) and Accenture in its bid for the DoD EHR contract.

Are Meaningful Use Stage 2 certified EHRs ready for interoperability? Findings from the SMART C-CDA Collaborative

A JAMIA study finds that many Meaningful Use Stage 2 certified EHR vendors have failed to properly implemented the interoperability standards outlined within the MU2 Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (C-CDA) specifications. Researchers found 615 errors within 91 sample C-CDA documents provided from 21 different certified EHR platforms.