Testimonies Before the GAO

VA Health Care: Challenges in Budget Formulation and Execution, by Randall B. Williamson, director, health care, before the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations. 03/14/09. VA faces challenges formulating its health care budget each fiscal year. As noted in GAO’s 2006 report on VA’s overall health care budget, these include making realistic assumptions about the budgetary impact of policy changes, making accurate calculations, and obtaining sufficient data for useful budget projections. GAO

Information Technology: Challenges Remain for VA's Sharing of Electronic Health Records with DOD, by Valerie C. Melvin, director, information management and human capital issues, before the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, House Committee on Appropriations. 03/14/09. To share and use health data has required, among other things, that VA and DOD agree on standards. At the same time, they are participating in federal standards-related initiatives, which is important both because of the experience that the departments bring to the national effort, and also because their involvement helps ensure that their adopted standards are compliant with federal standards. However, these federal standards are still emerging, which could complicate the departments’ efforts to maintain compliance. GAO