On April 10, 2018, AFCEA Bethesda hosted a GSA IT-70 Health IT SIN SIG (shared interest group) Meeting. G2Xchange’s Steve Plaugher shared his takeaways from the meeting for those unable to attend. His post has been shared here with permission from the original source – G2Xchange.
For those who missed it, included below are Steve Plaugher’s notes from yesterday’s DHA Health IT SIG meeting.
DHA shared the slideshow presentation which you can view here:
J-4 CO-HIT GSA Special Interest Group (SIG) Health IT SIN 132-56 10APR18 EF
Steve’s Takeaways
Included below are my biggest takeaways from today’s event with Jackie Pinkston, DHA Chief for Health IT Contracting Operations:
When: DC at GSA Building Who: Between 60-80, 10-15 GSA/DHA Government employees.
- Expect continued reliance on NASA SEWP for hardware purchases – and services through GSA IT-70/Health IT SIN. If a company has not gone through the process of obtaining the Health IT SIN on their schedule contract, then they can work with Roya Konzman (roya.konzman@gsa.gov) about getting ‘fast-tracked’.
- DHA is in the midst of planning another “Industry Day” in mid-June. DHA plans to release a more detailed forecast in conjunction with that event. Details will be announced on FBO and on GSA Interact. Jackie Pinkston committed to regular postings on the GSA Interactive Blogs (https://interact.gsa.gov/), specifically, on the DHA HIT-DHA/GSA Partnership forum.
- DHA is working to consolidate Service Component contracts into Enterprise-Wide support contracts, to increase buying power, and to reduce duplication of services and systems, yet be flexible enough to support all regional facilities and MTFs. New IDIQ type contracts may be utilized depending on what is determined to be in the best interest of the DHA. One of their largest challenges is the blending of the Service Components into one cohesive organization.
- DHA has experienced many delays and setbacks due to the high level of protests on contract awards.
A new MHS Genesis contract lead is Matt Hudson (former SPAWAR).
Some questions/action items I have leaving this event are:
- I will be looking to get more details about the telehealth opportunity Jackie mentioned was on the near horizon.
- I didn’t fully grasp their IDIQ style approach to transition the MTFs over their two-year goal. Jackie mentioned it being tiered 1-3, but I will be looking to gain a better understanding of what that tier structure looks like.
- Why don’t other agencies do more of this? Great job by Jackie and AFCEA to pull this together.
Those interested in getting involved in the Health IT SIG are also invited to connect with one of the subcommittee contacts:
Outreach and Education Subcommittee (Health IT SIN):
Govt Lead: Eric Fears (eric.fears@gsa.gov)
Industry Lead: Ben Arthungal (ben.arthungal@rbci.us)
Acquisition and Agile Contracting Subcommittee:
Govt Lead: Open
Industry Lead: Darrin Washington (Darrin.washington@caci.com)
Emerging Technologies:
Govt Lead: Open
Industry Co-Lead: Dan Regan (Daniel.regan@caci.com)
Industry Co-Lead: Kyle Campbell (kcampbell@fulcrumco.com)
Intersection of Health Policy and IT:
Govt Lead: Open
Industry Co-Lead: Tony Meyer (tony.meyer@halfaker.com)
Industry Co-Lead: Martha Kelly (mkelly@impaqint.com)
You can also find additional information about the Health It SIG on the AFCEA Bethesda website https://bethesda.afceachapters.org/?q=content/health-information-technology-sig.
You can also connect with Steve directly at Steve@G2Xchange.com.
