DOD EHR MHS Genesis

DOD Beats VA To Take New Electronic Health Records System Live

DOD EHR MHS Genesis

After spending $1 billion, DOD and VA decided to part ways after concluding neither organization plays nice with the other.

Initially, the plan was to create a unified electronic health record (EHR) system to allow seamless healthcare for veterans when they transition from military service. But the agencies could not figure out how to get their respective EHR systems to communicate.

In 2013, former Congressman Jeff Miller (R-Fl) chastised the agencies after they blew through $1 billion of $4 billion allocated to the project only to realize the efforts were wasted because they lacked coordination and direction.

RELATED: VA And DOD Blow $1 Billion With No Strategic Plan

After two years of failing to come up with a solution, the agencies broke up.

DOD Electronic Health Records System Rollout

Now, four years later, DOD just went live with its new EHR system called MHS Genesis at Fairchild Air Force Base new Spokane, Washington. DOD is scheduled to complete the rollout by 2022 to all locations.

“This morning, MHS Genesis became the single electronic health record (EHR) to document and manage care at Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB)! We achieved Go-Live!!” Stacy Cummings, DoD’s program executive officer for health care management systems, wrote in a memo to her staff last week.

“This is an exciting milestone for our team. We worked hard to get to our first IOC site, and I can report first hand from the command center that everything is going as expected. Providers at Fairchild are treating patients while the government and contractor team are quickly implementing fixes to issues as they are identified.”

EHR Government Contractors

Government contractors Accenture, Cerner and Leidos are providing the services and software for the transition under a $4.3 billion contract to provide an enhanced commercial solution developed by Cerner provided the system.

That contract covers 10 years, but can be extended to 18 years at a total value of $9 billion.

RELATED: Audit Shows Despite Billions In IT Spending, VA Still Needs IT Update

The trio beat out Epic, IBM and Impact Advisors, who were originally thought to be favorites for the contract.

Some insiders were not surprised by the outcome of the bid but at least one insider believes DOD will transition to Epic once they realize Cerner’s software is garbage, “Anecdotally, Cerner is garbage, and the DOD has admitted faulty software choices in the past. In five years, I expect they’ll be transitioning to Epic.”

RELATED: Electronic Health Record Quagmire, VA, DOD Still Can’t Share

The project was scheduled to go live before the end of 2016, but numerous security concerns resulted in the rollout being delayed for some time.

In August, a cybersecurity audit revealed 11,000 cyber vulnerabilities both within DOD’s existing system and the Genesis system. Most of the vulnerabilities were related to commercial software patches not being installed.

“The number of vulnerabilities identified by the [Defense Health Agency] during the Risk Assessment and independent verification and validation was larger than the program manager expected,” the report said. “The program manager developed a plan of action and milestones with mitigations to address the highest severity findings.”

Leidos informed DOD the most severe vulnerabilities would be resolved before December 31, 2016.

That aside, some in Congress remain concerned about DOD going its own way in developing a solution that will possibly be inoperable with the system VA is presently working toward.

Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), MD, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, echoed concerns in 2015 regarding interoperability and usability, especially in the context of sharing records between DOD and the VA. “If we allow the DOD to put in a system that then can’t interconnect, that is not interoperable with other systems, that will be a big mistake,” he told The New York Times.

“If we have to go to the appropriations committee and cut the money off and get them to slow down and reassure us that this won’t be a big mess, that’s what we’ll do.”

Of course, it does not look like Chairman Roe’s concerns were heeded.

Sources:

https://federalnewsradio.com/dod-reporters-notebook-jared-serbu/2017/02/dod-mark-first-go-live-new-electronic-health-record/

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/cerner-wins-dod-contract-to-modernize-military-health-records-10-things-to-know.html

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180 Comments

  1. @Ex va: I better get some sleep, I have an appointment later today as well. will talk soon. God Bless you and Bens World. Sleep well Ex va.

  2. @ cj, good, glad to hear. I said a lot of stuff i hadn’t told anyone about. It was all true. I wasn’t lying about any of it. But, like ANutterVet said it is for entertainment purposes. ROFL!!!!

      1. @ cj, i guess i am wondering if they would hack to try to find our locations and to see who is saying anything negative. We all do that!!!!! It is true stuff, and they don’t want to deal with it!!!!!

      1. @Ex va: I am not sure yet if it’s an attack of some sort, or if something got screwed up when i did my last update. But, Your having the same issues I am, so it is making me wonder what is happening.

      2. @Ex va: No need for them to hack me to find out where I am at. Hey hackers…….I live on the lake….drop in anytime………

      3. @ cj, that is what i am wondering about for a couple of days it has been strange. It started like a month ago. Then everything was ok at times. The last few days have been really strange. Couldn’t access or type on site. This was the only site i couldn’t get on.

      4. @Ex va: For me, it’s been breaking connection randomly, or crashing my browsers. I am not completely sure what it is yet. Like I said, I thought it was something with just my computer, till you said your having the same issues. yesterday nobody commented here for the longest time, even Crazy elf asked what was going on.

      5. @ cj, my browsers freeze up and internet connection i loose it is like i am not being allowed to participate in the conversations or respond to a post. It is weird.

      6. @Ex va: That is the very same thing that is going on with me as well. Hmmmm I wonder if Bens site is being attacked? and it bounces us off the net? I need to brush up on internet security.

      7. @ cj, i am in the middle of corn fields and fence and tree rows. I am not important for a hacker, too poor. Lol! Just don’t trust va and their tactics.

      8. @Ex va: Not to worry about them. What can they do? They already treat us like shit. Maybe they should mess with our heads and start treating us right for a change.

      9. @ cj, thanks, i am so sick of the flu, took me forever. Well, i hope they are not trying to do something to Ben’s site. He is like the only honest press left. He get the story before anyone else does.

      10. I know one thing, it is browser related. When my browser crashes I still have a connection. On my system I can run speedtest through a terminal without a browser.

      11. @ cj, if they did start treating us right we would believe it was a foreign country or another world. LOL! I don’t go i am afraid they would try to arrest me or falsely accuse me of something. They are nuts.

      12. @Ex va: Don’t think stuff like that. I am sure it is something with our computers. The one I use is an arch linux operating system, and this all started after the last update. When it was giving me alot of trouble I switched over to a windows computer and everything worked just fine.

      13. @Ex va: My wife uses a Macbook and a ipad, and she is always complaining she doesn’t have internet, while mine is working just fine.

      14. @ cj, and there is something else i noticed. I would get an e-mail ping when i checked the follow-up posts with a few minutes. Now it is like 5-10 minutes.

      15. @Ex va: For a blog though.Ben has an awfull lot of comments, and that can really slow things down too.

      16. @ cj, i think you are right. A couple of years ago I lost an android to a worm or a virus. It crashed the whole system, fortunately i still had a warranty and they reimbursed me for the purchase price. It was not from a download, something attacked my security software and crashed it. The hard drive wouldn’t stop working, just kept spinning. It could be something with browser like you said.

      17. @Ex va: Sometimes it is just hard to figure out whats going on. Especially if a couple things all happened at the same time. Like Internet outage at the same time there is a bug in a browser update, and that happened at the same time you did a system update. Just hard to pinpoint at times.

      1. @ cj, i am finally over flu. I am kinda freaked out a little about not being able to use my computer as normal on this site.

    1. @ cj, i have been using at & t and 4isi and having trouble with both. Something weird is going on. Do you think it is some kind of attack?

      1. @Ex va: I think it is. I was just going to go through my system journal and see how many attacks it logged. i will do that later.

      2. @ cj, vaoig hacked my computer where i worked. They would hacked this site if they wanted to do it. They don’t give a shit about breaking laws.

      3. @Ex va: I don’t know what good it would do to hack. All they have to do is subcribe to see what everyone is saying.

        Hacking the home computers is another story, looking for bank accts etc.

      1. @ANutterVet: I am ok, computer giving me some trouble, nothing I can’t take care of.
        Same here an appointment tomorrow. With the tbi doctors not the va. I love Thursdays appointment, those doctors alway put me in a great mood.

        Check out my post on the next page LOL.

      2. @ANutterVet:As always, I don’t sleep till around 4am, Then on days I have no appointments I sleep most of the day, or not at all untill I more or less pass out. Then I will be down for days.

      3. @ANutterVet: At least your getting some relief with the meds. Those weren’t even working for you a couple days ago.

      4. @cj – I also took some supplements. But when the anxiety is up, hardly anything puts the rest of my symptoms at ease. I was a little pissed, as you probably could tell, earlier this evening. I just hate to have myself at the mercy of these people.

      5. @ANutterVet: your 100 times the person they are, don’t let them rent space in your head. I really have to read through all that material you provided. I need to try and get off these damn meds and onto supplements like the rest of the people here are doing.

      6. @cj – I hear yah. I just need to establish some mental distance. My wife and I spend about $300-350 a month on supplements. I get for da pooch as well. If you do start, the first round, to create your supply, will cost you the most.

      7. @ANutterVet: I knowwww Geez they are expensive. Maybe I will check into growing my own type of supplements. Or gettng what I need from different foods…….someting. i can’t afford what they want to charge.

      8. @cj – I know, it cost a lot sometimes to supplement. What many people do, is to purchase the items specific to what they need it for. For us, we purchase powdered fruits and vegetables for slushes as well. My grandmother taught me about supplementation. Been doing it since 1975.

      9. @ANutterVer: No wonder you know so much about all this. I think the only meds I can stop taking is the clonazepam and morphine. The rest are heart meds and they say I can’t stop any of them without ending up pushing daisy’s.

      10. @cj – Yeah, don’t stop your heart meds. Or you’ll be pushing up daisies through the frost line. LOL Ok Brother cj, i’m hitting the sack. Good night. And God bless you.

    1. @ cj, you still up? I have been having all kinds of problems with my iPad. Don’t understand what is going on.

      1. @Ex va: Yes stll here. I have no clue what is going on Ex va. I am thinking some type of cyber attack is going on. It just broke my connection while typing this. Been going on for the past couple of days now.

        How are you Ex va?

    2. hey CJ look into EDTA for your heart problems it works i gave some to a friend this weekend he has diabetic nerapathy in his legs and are always cold i gave him about an 8th of a teaspoon 20 min latter he said they where warm ….look it up on web MD and read their comments. you can buy it at PUREBULK INC. and its cheaper than dirt

  3. P.S. I truly enjoyed the flocking of John, the lawyer. How does one keep up with the way of the Choice Card? None of the congress persons that I have contacted has responded. Do ya ever feel like we get no respect?

  4. No accountability. Topic; from what y’all are saying, the VA is willing to spend all that money, taxpayers money, for a dinosaur. The VA really doesn’t want to share. Whomever the person who signed the, any, paper work affirming this should be investigated. How much money each year does the VA spend on almost contracts? How much are they spending in time and dollars just going through the motions? Who gets it?

  5. @Namnibor @Crazy elf – I’ll tell you the VA medical system has me questioning almost every thing that my medical providers offer me for pain relieve. On my last visit, I shared with my PCP that the generic medication didn’t work as well as the previous generic manufactured by another pharmaceutical company. Over her head and was told that the medication was in the current generic.

    When I had this problem in the private sector, they provided me with a generic that worked. We went through 4 different generics until one was found to work. Not a the VA.

    I also shared with my PCP that I didn’t due to the medication not being as effective as the first generic, that this was putting into a bind of more tabs of opiates. Do you know what they gave me instead of a muscle relaxer, Carisoprodol [Soma] that I know works? They gave me more opiates. What the hell is this all about?

    I share with my PCP that I don’t want to take more opiates, and what does the incompetent medical provider prescribe, more opiates. I’m having a really hard time with the VA system.

    There is no incentives for the VA to here my concerns about my healthcare. I’m a number. You know, in almost 4 years, not one PCP has ever asked me how the medications were working in giving me pain relief. Its frigging crazy. Any suggestions? I was informed that giving me a prescription for Carisoprodol [Soma] was a dead issue.

    Its very frustrating. They aren’t concerned about any feedback from VA patients. And, being an Investigative Research Biologist, this is even more frustrating.

    1. i know exactly what your talking about ANUTTERVET i took 3- 40mg oxcycontin not all at one time during the course of about 6 hrs. and my back hurt so bad i still couldn’t get off the couch then chewed 2 muscle relaxers and i was moving again just goes to show you that to prescribe pain meds without a muscle relaxer is worthless .

      1. @OLDMARINE – Hey Brother, I have a question for you. Are you fully informed about the OxyContin that you’re taking? If not, check the alpha letters on the side of the round pill. The number tells you the amount of milligrams. Is your OxyContin an extended release tablet? If the OxyContin is the extended release type, the letters should be OP, and not OC. Let me explain.

        The OP is the newer formula. And, the OC was an older formula, that was weeded out of production due to people [especially kids] crushing this tab, and snorting it, shooting it, etc..

        The newer OP has a time release mechanism, that your not able to crush the tab to artificially manipulate the release of the pain medication. Also, and this is very important, it has been reported that the NEW OxyContin tablet, doesn’t release the medication as good as the OLDER tab that has OC letters.

        Therefore, many individuals have stayed away for the NEW OxyContin tab, OP [street name: Opee]. The ones that switched are now taking the immediate release version called, Oxycodone. Many have reported better results for pain relief using the immediate release tab of Oxycodone.

        I thought I’d share this with you in case you were having an issue with pain relief. VA medical providers usually won’t share this type of information with you, and if you inquire, they may get spooked and label you as a drug seeker.

        Geesh, now how stupid is that. You can’t even inquire about your medication that your taking without the possibility of getting tagged. You see, many people don’t realize that due to the ineffective release of the time release form of OxyContin is less effective, they make be ingesting more milligrams of the pain medication that needed. I don’t know if this applies to you or not. Let me know.

  6. I think it was Rand Paul who’s introduced legislation on “term limits!”
    Yes, those I’ve mentioned, and plenty more, are in need of retirement.
    Of course, let’s let them retire over in Saudi Arabia, Qatar or even Iran if that suits them. They seemed to be all for that Iranian deal!
    Plus, didn’t they all help Obamination and Hillary supply arms and money to our enemies!?!!?!
    They ought to fit in just fine.

  7. Of course, we’ve also got individuals, such as;
    1.) Maxine Waters, (D-Ca) who don’t know country Russia invaded! She thinks Russia invaded Korea!
    2.) Nancy Pelosi, (D-Ca) who’s unaware of who’s President! She thinks Bush is still President.
    3.) Elizabeth Warren, (D-Mass.) I’d write something here, but what’s the use! This bitch has shown her true colors.

    And then there’s individuals like;
    1.) John “SONGBIRD” McCain, (R-Az) who believes he’s a war hero. All because he lost his plane and was captured by the enemy. He’s also shown his true colors as well. Just another “RINO”!
    2.) Chuck Schumer, (RINO) he’s another asswipe who needs disposed of in short order!

    If this is what our Congress is made up of, GOD help us! And, we are definitely going to have to pray harder than ever for President Donald J. Trump!

    1. P.S.
      The three BITCHES I just referenced, are now called;

      “The Three Democrat Stooges!”

      No disrespect to “Moe, Larry, Curly or (later) Shemp!

    2. @Crazy elf – Your list spells disaster. A bunch of flakes, only concerned about fulfilling themselves.

    3. @Crazy elf — Those -5- alone are poster congress critter for term limits. They also are quite a Snowflake Squad.
      As far as Maxine Waters, I have no idea how she even got through law school let alone where she haunts now. I have never heard anything really intelligent come out of her and like you said, she drops a box of stupidity anytime she opens her mouth. It’s further compounded by fact she enunciates as if she has a mouthful of mashed potatoes.
      McCain — His voice alone irritates me. It’s the voice of concrete and iron being slowly dragged over an abrasive surface.
      In a mood tonight when I see all the overt obstruction taking place in D.C. while Veterans are still waiting with antici………………………………………pation.

      1. @Namnibor @Crazy elf – You’re right, poster critters for term limits. Legislation should’ve been pasted a long time ago. This is exactly how the money changing system is able to be initiated and kept in force. We’re well overdue for new blood!

  8. >>@Ben: That contract covers 10 years, but can be extended to 18 years at a total value of $9 billion.

    i’ll just past this line from article to express my opine on this new gov contract:

    >>@Ben: RELATED: Audit Shows Despite Billions In IT Spending, VA Still Needs IT Update

    that cost will baloon to $15B+ in no time

    i wouldn’t trust the DoD systems nor especially the VA systems. time after time reports have shown them to be outdated and inefficient no matter the multi-billion dollar costs for upgrades over the decades. zero accountability, poor management, always taxpayer money from Congress with no actionable stipulations for mucking up, etc. so why bring those systems up to date and manage them well? 😉

      1. yes, that is true. yet due to the sloooow pace (usually) of fed gov implementing anything, except for war or Congressional member benefits & salary raises, that just adds to the inefficiency scale. compare that inefficiency scale with yearly budget dollars you’ll see some serious skewing.

        private/public tech IT companies say like (switch, equinix, etc) keep a foot close the innovation curve or else they are out of business, for their customer base would move on to elsewhere sevices.

  9. OFF TOPIC – Rallying for Trump – Before I start, I want to assure you that I’m for President Trump being a successful President. There are many problems that we face in our country, combined with prioritization on how to solve each problem.

    On top of this, the political divide in our country was evident during our past Presidential election. And, the divide is more clearly defined in our current political atmosphere, due to President Trump trying to implement the “Make America Great Again,” plan of action.

    My major concern is this, President Trump has not presented a top priority list. And, to continually repeat the “Make American Great Again” [Mission Statement] list, adjusting it as needed, and keeping the American public informed of such changes.

    As we all know, one hot area that has needed reformation and reorganization is the VA. I whole heartedly believe, that the corruption and disservice to Veterans has been running rampant for quite a while, and it is deeply rooted being systemic in nature. Therefore, putting many Veterans lives in some sort of jeopardy or extreme turmoil, due to not receiving proper or immediate healthcare or other VA related services.

    I’ve come to this conclusion mainly due to; [1.] the current performance ratings in the Phoenix and other VA facilities, [2.] the whistleblowing about the VA that is occurring nationwide, [3.] the internal mismanagement of Veterans records, [4.] Veterans complaints that are posted on Ben’s blog and elsewhere online, [5.] the aggressive negative attitudes towards President Trump from Members of Congress, and [6.] my own personal experience with the VA Medical Center [VAMC] in which I receive medical care.

    For any major changes to take effect in the VA, the House will need to pass bills or measures. As of 02/13/17, the House is comprised of 239 Republicans, 193 Democrats, and 2 Vacancies. Keep in mind, that there are also many Republican Members of Congress that are not satisfied with President Trump. Therefore, it is at the House level in which I want to extend my argument.

    Here is my concern, “With the problems occurring in the VA system, and being so evident to many Veterans, why hasn’t any group of Republicans or Democrats taken an unwavering forefront pertaining to fixing the VA’s systemic problems?” I have no direct or close political ties to any party Member of Congress, and I have raised my own questions only by doing minimal research.

    As I dig deeper into this matter, I ask myself the additional questions; “Are our Congressmen blind or lacking in insight about the problems occurring in the VA?” “Do our Congressmen receive poor intelligence about the conditions of the VA?” “Are our Congressmen afraid to take some sort of action to fix the VA?” “Or, do our Congressmen only believe, that the VA’s problems deal only with appointment scheduling, and the influx of new Veterans into the VA system?”

    Finally, “Why does it truly seem like there is a lower priority and urgency for our Congressmen to grab the baton, in order to run and fix the VA’s problems?”

    The VA’s problems are quite evident, and it is clearly a hot issue. It doesn’t take a scientist to come to this conclusion. And, if President Trump can make it across the political waters to act against the VA, there shouldn’t be any Members of the House [Congressmen] that should disagree. Or, will they disagree?

    If Congressmen go against President Trump, on VA issues that he has clearly shown to need reforming, then the political divide is a personal matter against the President. And, if this is so, then our Congressmen truly don’t care about us as Veterans. Therefore, the issues of the VA will be camouflaged by a swampy smell in the political spectra, and these issues will more than likely not be resolved.

    1. @ANutterVet– I suspect some of your answers will all point the way of Isaacson being a historic yes man as long as those contracts keep flowing to the pace of his stairmaster.

      Why do I say this?

      Because at the initial confirmation hearing of Dr. Shulkin, Isaacson specifically stated to Shulkin he was tired of hearing “bad VA news in the morning when he’s trying to work-out” (paraphrased), so that statement alone oozes of self-absorbed ass wipe congress critter syndrome (no cure as yet has been found as long as they sit on the purse strings and have a cookie jar in each appendage and orifice. 🙂

      They also were MORE concerned about each State’s congress critter receiving VA contracts…$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

      1. @Namnibor – Brother, your response is why I wrote my post in the first place. If and when things start to change in the VA system, I foresee a VERY . . . SLOW PROCESS.

        I know that the governing politicians are familiar with Ben’s blog. And, this is why I deduce that they really don’t care about the lives of Veterans. I’m not trying to a smart aleck when stating this. There has been too many heartfelt and sad stories that Veterans have posted in Ben’s blog. Its a disgrace!

        And, all the hot button issues that the Main Stream Media [MSM] keeps putting at the top of their headlines, will only make the VA issues to become a non-relevant matter. Just my opinion. And, I hope that I’m wrong.

      2. I think that ‘ace-in-hole’ here is the fact the mainstream media feels so slighted by Pres. Trump and everything about him, as 91Veteran stated yesterday I believe, just waiting like salivating dogs for the VA to have it’s next *newsworthy scandal eruption* (interpretation subject to MSM unfort.), it will be only THEN when they go like rabid poodles at Trump and THEN use that to “hold Trump accountable”, but sadly, we Veterans in the end are still utilized as stage props on the chessboard as leverage, not so much concerned WHILE the problems still fester but the piggies at the VA have their $$$ and awaiting appropriate time to wade through swamp and ask for more…another bandaid on the feeding troughs of the piggies…the Veterans are still waiting for the bacon to cook.
        So, using counter-strategy of before, the mainstream media can ALSO be USED BY US to point the shiny light of accountability so the MSM can spend the $$$ on pointing out Trump’s perceived failures. See how the worm turns? The worm is dizzy and nauseated.

    2. @NutterVet:

      all great questions and concerns.

      most of us that have used the VA/VBA over the past decades i suspect have all asked the same questions you ask. not just asked, but wrote and spoke to anyone who we thought would listen till we’re all blue in the face. Writing Congress was the worst of support usually. if one wrote to any of the VA committess, we typcially got in return a letter suggesting we contact our state reps. never made sense to me becasue the VA is federal and those on the fed VA committees were/are the one’s who should be able to do something about our concerns.

      national investigative reporting + first-hand whistle blowers statements + decades of millions of veterans writing to Congress hasn’t fixed much at VA, has it? the underlying corruption i’m speaking about. that hasn’t changed at all from my point of view.

      i really hope Pres.Trump replaces Shulkin or at the least puts WH Admin eyes on him to ensure the promised reforms are priority versus more of the same crap.

      for the most part, in reality, veterans are always put last in the VA/VBA totem pole. i’m sure “follow the money” would yield many answers to your questions regarding why no one in Congress, across all political waters, hasn’t picked up that baton and marched in our favor. all of DC pouts how McCain is some war hero, well, show us veterans where he held anyone at VA/VBA accountable for mucking up versus hard talking points with no bite.

      to this day i can’t figure out why none of the motorcycle clubs or the like haven’t decended upon DC with these concerns. no one can tell me that the big-ride-show-of-force at the inauguration don’t have veterans/disabled-veterans among them!

      if Pres. Trump’s admin can’t/won’t actually clean up the wide spread corruption at VA/VBA, seems a huge protest would be next in line that might bring answers to your questions. or its just gonna be biz as usual at VA/VBA.

      how come none of these wealthy kats hasn’t offered to help veterans organize and march? soroscreeps sure help the other-side organize, yes?.

      they don’t give a crap and veterans don’t fit their agenda except to do the heavy lifting and be lab rats, that is why, IMHO.

      1. @Cantigny – Hey Brother, I totally agree about the circle jerking that takes place pertaining to finding out what politician will truly take action about the VA. McCain, forget it. Shulkin? Mr. Johnny Isakson? No movement from these folks. All the political momentum is hovering over the White House, in order to cripple President Trump so that he can’t win the next election, or to double time him out of the WH. Therefore, always putting the lives of Veterans in jeopardy.

    3. To show you how much Congress cares about veterans in their own state, I contacted Senator Bennett’s office in March 2016. I got a response a couple days later saying they were looking into VA problems, particularly with Choice.
      Although I sent several more emails to keep them updated on my ongoing battle with the VA including his office on each, I never heard another word from them until I got an autoreply in October saying his aide I had contacted no longer worked in his office.

      Imagine my shock to get a phone message today, almost 1 year after I first contacted his office. His office is now inquiring into the problem I first had over a year ago.

      I had quite a conversation with the aide when I called back.

      Will it do any good?

      I also contacted Senator Gardner around the same time. I also kept his office informed. I also never heard from his office until I called them.

      I have not heard anything more from his state office after that call, even when I sent a letter to his office in DC.

      These are my own elected representatives. I cannot believe any senator from another state would show more concern for veterans.

      That is the reason Isaakson can whine publicly about bad VA news causing him to fall on his ass while working out.

      They don’t even care about the voters in their own state.

      1. Vogons, all of their bureaucratic piggy asses, all Vogons. Loving their paperwork to keep that flow, which in turn more paperwork is created to approve more paperwork…as the stairmaster turns or churns.

      2. I just cannot understand the thinking of someone who thinks calling about an appointment almost a year after I had it is helpful.

        Particularly when the whole reason behind a Choice appointment is to get care in a timely manner.

        Since I have once again been referred to Choice because my VA which calls itself a hospital does not have a doctor on staff for Neuro…you can bet I will keep his office well informed of the program they believe is helping veterans.

      3. @91Veteran – I’ve had similar tactics used on me as well. This is why I posted a little back, that these people are in kahoots with each other, perfecting their circle jerks.

      4. Her response to me when she asked if I had contacted any other office was that they did not want to overwhelm federal agencies with inquiries.

        Really? Its better just to see nothing being done for a year than to inquire? Or contact the veteran? Its better to just ignore everything?

      5. @91Veteran – Their stalling tactics must be happening all over in the system. I was complaining about a loss of muscle mass, weakness, banging into the walls, and a fear of falling again. Had to cancel many appointments. Ran out of a medication for anxiety and sleep. They didn’t care.

        Then after many calls and complaining, they agreed to give me home Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy until I regained my strength. When I agreed to the PT and OT services, I shared with my PCP a concern about traumatic muscle spasms and migraines due to extra pain from doing additional exercising. They had no response, and did not offer me any Soma’s for short term relieve.

        I started PT and OT, had to stop due to getting debilitating spasms and migraines. They could care less. They then stopped the PT and OT, and pulled a known slick one against me; we’re not prescribing you any medications until you come in. Dam, I had no choice.

        Shared with the PCP that I would have to take additional pain meds, she didn’t care. So their dam threat forced me to go in for a visit. I had to take additional pain meds to accomplish this. I was pissed off. When you’re use to being on meds, they use this against you. Frigging dirty manipulation.

      6. I agree they use medication against veterans.

        Its infuriating to see or hear of it happening because denying medicine for a proven medical condition is torture, nothing more.

        I am lucky that I have never become dependent on their pills. Not addicted, but dependent on them to function.

        I always stopped taking pain medicine after surgery and gutting it out rather than taking all that was given.

        The problem is the pain is getting bad enough that it’s difficult to sleep at night, and the shots of pain down my leg are getting sharp enough I stumble when they hit. Its like getting an ice pick in my hip.

        Which makes me wonder if my knee replacement was botched and these problems will get worse.

      7. @91Veteran – Yeah Brother, I hear you about the dependence. When I first started to take these meds, I had shared with them my goals. At anytime, they never probed me with questions to find out what was going on. No detective work. I was concerned from the beginning. Especially, when I was receiving my meds from a Nurse Practitioner instead of the Pain Management Physician, which there is one on staff.

        They even had a Clinical Pharmacologist review my med jacket, with out letting me know beforehand, and she put her recommendations in without even evaluating me. No questions, only evidence based criteria. Again, another flag was raised.

        They were so slick, that I went through a trial and error of muscle relaxers, and only one worked, Carisoprodol. I already knew this. Then they finally prescribed it to me. I got word ahead of time before it came into the pharmacy. According to them, Carisoprodol isn’t on the regular formulary.

        I had thought, right on, they’re finally giving me Carisoprodol in which I know works. Thinking that they finally were going to continually give me this med, my wife and I went and adopted a new puppy for me to train. We got our boy on the 15th, and 2 days later the Carisoprodol script came into the pharmacy for me to pick up. It was only a 21 day supply.

        I was doing fine, training my new service dog. I was up and about, moving around, going into the woods, and was to start a very good program to teach the commands to our boy. Then the script ran out. Called in for a refill, and was denied. This set me back. Had to dramatically cut back on the training. Final result, my boy is more emotionally connected to my wife than me. This is totally the opposite of what I was trying to do in the first.

        I brought this up to my PCP, and they don’t care. As a matter of fact, they knew I was getting a new pup for PTSD Service and Alert Dog. My PCP or Behavioral Health never asked any questions or showed any concern. I will never forgive them for this. So now, my boy doesn’t stay around me at night. But hey, I have no reason to complain right? Like I’ve always said since I started visiting Ben’s blog, “I don’t trust them one bit. They’re sneaky, and manipulative.

      8. What I find interesting about the VA the past few years is that whenever I went in for a primary care appointment, I never once was asked anything about any of my service connected conditions, with the exception of my knee after surgery.

        After telling the VA I refuse to be see by them for anything other than my service connected conditions, my last appointment was amazing. I think its the first time in at least 10 years that any history of those conditions getting worse has been recorded in my medical record.

        I have also found Secure Messaging is useful. If my PCP doesn’t record what I am reporting as significant, I can send them a Secure Message reporting it and I have a record of it. Same thing if I forget to report something or need to clarify the notes from the appointment. I can send them a message and have a record of it.

      9. @91Veteran – That’s totally absurd not to ask you how your doing with your service connected ailments for 10 years. You situation only confirms to me what is going on, pure incompetence.

        And, as far as Secure Messaging goes, when I first signed up for My Healthy Vet, the worker messed up my log in name and password. The MHV people didn’t want to fix it. They asked me to contact DC. I contacted them, was on the phone for at least 3 hours [2 calls]. They don’t know what is going on or how to fix it either. So no Secure Messaging for me.

        Brother, wife just walked in the door. I gotta see how her class went tonight, and get ready for a personal appointment tomorrow. Have a good evening, and hope you have a pain free night. I’ll try to get back on later in the day tomorrow. Rant out.

      10. Have a good night ANutterVet.

        Incompetence mixed with lazy providers who refuse to review your record, mixed with VA management pushing BS fad medicine that doesn’t cost them anything, but looks like they are doing something.

      11. @91Veteran – I was truly ranting on the previous post. Its hard to stay focused. Sorry I got wrapped up in my own problem. I forgot to tell you, that while in the private sector, I had surgery performed by Laser Spine Institute [LSI]. I had sciatica from my right buttock down to my toes. One 3/4 inch incision, no problems, and 100% success. The VA, they could care less. The procedure is not approved by the FDA, so in their minds it doesn’t work. Strange.

        As a matter of fact, I have a personal appointment tomorrow. Wife is coming home from class, so I’m need to sign off. You have a good evening and get some rest. Its going to take me a while to get washed up. I’m not looking forward to the additional pain.

      12. “[Really? Its better just to see nothing being done for a year than to inquire? Or contact the veteran? Its better to just ignore everything?]”

        Seems also standard operating procedure for VA OIG or any OIG for last 8 years. This has become very entrenched in many federal agencies and even started to bleed-out into the military in Obama’s last year when members of the military, and Officers as well, speaking-out in protests while in uniform supporting Black Lives Matter and it was at that prior year even the Secret Service had gone the wayside of a party posse, getting in trouble several times in last 8 years…and I wonder if that IRS Scandal thing in Cincinnati I think?, if that is yet another agency filled with swamp beasties?
        President Trump has a monumental undertaking. I still say he’s got quite the running start but will Trump utilize this “beer mogul” that was to be VA Sec. Shulkin’s little helper? Or did the VSO piggies all get a beer contract with a beer company for their various lodges around the USA? Again, was that just frosting on the turd served cold? I do not recall the “beer mogul’s” name coming-up in confirmations or Cleveland Clinic Pres., and I for one think they should have been in there with Shulkin and there should have been REAL Veterans, not VSO Stunt Piggies in there and they should have been able to participate in the questioning…because our lives depend upon it, not these critters.
        Rant Out. Going to play some ‘Angry Birds” and use my imagination in replacing with the VA version. “Angry Crows”, where the only “Choice” you have is 78 different dialects for the piggies. 🙂

      13. Isn’t it amazing how quickly any organization, no matter how big can turn to shit when bad or corrupt leadership is at the top?

        As for the IRS thing, Cinncinnati was used as an excuse for someone in Washington to blame.

        Nobody will ever convince me that Lerner and that moron Koskinen didn’t get their direction from the White House. Their fingerprints were all over that, but the establishment Republicans in control of Congress didn’t care since the targets were Tea Party enemies.

        It was disgraceful when common citizens are targeted using the full weight of a federal agency.

        As for Leinenkugel…your comment about beer contracts gets me thinking.

        What if he is like others who ignore veterans in order to get a good seat on the gravy train?
        I still believe he is an aide to Trump as a favor to either Paul Ryan or Reince Priebus…or both.

        The question is, was he put in place to advise against any reforms that would upset the train.

    4. “A house divided against itself must fall.” The problem is each House member wants his pick for contracts. The lobbyist play one off the other. Same problem with any National Health Care Plan. It is about the money changers (Wall Street Investment Bankers) getting stock price increases for the corporations they are handling for bonds, etc.; start ups like Health Net and Triwest which were spin offs of other corporations and made their investment banks big bucks by getting the split of the entire nations VA Choice program. Billions, literally billions to a few chosen investors.

    5. @ANutterVet: The truth is, not a single congressman will ever lift a finger to help a veteran, unless that veteran can help said congressman get re elected. I have had the va tell my congressmans veterans liason to piss off, and they did just that, end of help from him. I have had the same from my senators office as well. These elected officials could care less about veterans. period. What they do care about is their own pocket books, own seat at the taxpayers teet, and of course the unions. They care more about dog shit than they do about any of us. We all know what the answer is, how to fix this once and for all. Like any other special interest group out there, who cries and then get’s their way. We need to do the same. We need to band together from shore to shining shore, and march as one. We need to decend on D.C. in such mass that the entire world hears us. I wll tell you, that is the ONLY way these lazy ass bastards will ever lift a fucking finger to help a veteran. There isn’t a single government agency that isn’t too big to properly have oversight over. They are all money pits, and the money is going to corruption, theft, diverted to insider corps, and there is not even a fox in place to watch the preverbial henhouse. It is a free for all except veterans. Veterans are the only group of people that have been thrown to the curb. Step to the back of the bus soldier, and let the REAL people aboard. They like to thank you for your service when on the phone as if they realy gave a shit, they like to thank you for your service when the camera’s are rolling, they like to thank you for your service come voting time. When was the last time you felt, that when someone says, thank you for your service, you realy felt they meant it? They tell you this because it is the popular thing to do now……..oh yes it’s all the rage. Like the newest street drug. Only really they are the local pushers, and we………..well we are their addicted cash cow. Appropriate as much money as possible from the American people for veterans, after all what American wouldn’t want to take care of it’s own veterans? Then let’s line our pockets with gold nod our heads and say yes dear, pat the veteran on the back and send them on their way. They probably laugh at us for being dipshits and signing the dotted line to begin with, I wouldn’t doubt it. There are still wwII veterans fighting for what is rightfully theirs, as well as Korean war veteran, VietNam, Gulf war, Iraq, Afghanistan veterans, and veterans from every mission in between. It is time for us to rise as one. We talked about this not too long ago, we need coordinators in every state, to get the word out to every able bodied veteran. We need to march. We are tired of the handshake and nod, the empty promises, tired of watching our brothers and sisters pass away. Somebody needs to answer for them, we need to demand satisfaction, and we need to do it as expediantly as possible………………………………………D.C. is >>>====> that way. Rant out.

      1. @cj – Dang nab pj my brother, I can’t add anything to this, but . . . Vote for Pounding PJ. Get out of the way, not today, you MFin dog. I grab your nads and twist, then turn around and break both of your wrists. So like I said, back off or you’re dead. Get out of the way, dang nab it not today. Your dissertation is so good, I can’t even think.

      2. @cj – Don’t be fooled, its the meds. If been trying to keep myself under control. Sleep patterns are still running amuck. How about you?

      3. @cj – Wow, should we send the VA a Dank U note for improving the time to receive death benefits? R U talking about the unmarked cash to the Islamic Terrorist Nation of Iran? I said it, I really said it.

      4. @ANutterVet: That is exactly who I mean. lol yes you did say it and didn’t it feel better than a va visit?

      5. @cj – I’m not admitting to anything anymore, and I’m not paying you any money. Call them and put in a claim. LOL How’s the family doing?

      6. @ANutterVet: Family is doing well thank you. Son and his gf want to buy a house in Kenosha Wisconsin, and fix it up. Good for them, he is a good carpenter. The wife is ummm, trying to not have any stress in her life. So If I bitch at the new or something she walks out of the room lol. How things in your neck of the woods?

      7. @cj – Things are good on this end. Trying to keep things running smoothly so that wife can finish a CNA program. Her class has a bunch of women, may be women, in the early 20’s. My wife is in her early 50’s and they think she is in her 30’s. Asian women, what can I say. Dog is fine, spoiled, get what he wants, and more.

      8. @ANutterVet: That is cool, I hope she does well. I can’t even imagine how hard that must be going back to school. Hats off to her. Of course we spoil our dogs, not too much, but enough lol

      9. @cj – Yeah, wife would like me to go back to school. I like get a Masters in Molecular Biology, Virology, or Human Cell Biology. Get to get some things straightened out first. Oops cj, its 1:30am my time. I got to crash out. Fingers slipping and need to get up early. You have a good night. Get some good rest. And, as always, Good Night Ben’s World.

  10. note: i’m late writing this, wanted to post the other day but moving too slow. so i post this today here. a bit off topic.

    i hope Pres. Trump now see’s the problematic issue of keeping around some of former Obama’s picks. (not speaking of Gen Flynn)

    Speaking of which Shulkin is but another one Pres.Trump and admin needs to keep an eye on.

    as i mentioned some time ago, i hope one scenario is Pres.Trump was too busy and running out of time to pick another VA head, as his first choices declined, so he picked Shulkin. i hear nothing in between Shulkin’s words but biz as usual at VA. i’ve not heard him mention VBA either. i’m willing to bet there are many employee’s at VA/VBA that would appreciate the VA swamp cleaned up too.

    Pres. Trump is feeling the burn now from keeping some of these ppl around and the others he can’t fire. These people are hell-bent on destroying him and his Presidency. and obviously he & his admin knows this now.

    Pres.Trump, stay on course for America and her citizens, back burner some of these foreign issues. American citizens need help now. 4 years is little time to get much of what he wants to get done. half this county and many in Congress/DC are going to make it as difficult as possible for him build his promises and reforms.

  11. Regardless of what software that DOD or eh VA finally decide to use… I would like to know why DOD ( Fort Hood) and the local VA are sharing my prescription information without my written consent. When I go to the va they do a printout of my meds, and show two scripts I get from Ft Hood, and when I go to Fort Hood they do the same thing. Its seems to me if they can share scrip info they should be able to share medical records, but don’t do it without my permission.

  12. @”cj”
    Although I don’t really like Ashton Kutcher, there’s something here you gotta see.
    Titled:
    “Ashton Kutchers Shocks Congress On Human Rights!”

    Dated; 15 Feb. 2017 (6:49 min long)

    I didn’t know he had a ‘non-profit’ organization. Which went after “sex traffickers” and those who dealt in “slavery”!
    He’s also involved with 40 other agencies dealing with this issue!
    He sat in front of Congress today and pleaded his case. This one sentence caught my attention;
    Quote: “End slavery among corporations worldwide!”
    It’s time for Americans to say —– “ENOUGH” ——- to the sex slavery taking place in the world! It’s time to “round up” these asswipes and “dispose” of them immediately!
    The President has issued his executive order on this. Now it’s time for all law enforcement agencies, FBI and DOJ, to do their jobs!

    1. P.S.
      Watch this video “cj”. Hillary is one sick bitch.
      From:
      “Next News Network”
      “Gary Franci reporting”
      Titled:

      “Right After Mike Flynn Resigned, Hillary Clinton Said Sickest Thing Ever!”

      Dated:
      15 Feb. 2017. (4:59 min. long)

    2. you want to know where all the perverts hang out at punch in bohemian grove on you-tube watch the long version alex jones did, it’s where all the politicians hang out at. will make your head spin they are perverted devil worshipers. even RICHARD NIXON went there thats where they select the next president ….ITS A MUST WATCH YOU WILL BE AMAZED

      1. Nothing really amazes me anymore because I am just an alien here on earth observing and we’re almost finished, just have a bit more probing to do and we will leave mankind to it’s own implosion. It gets fun when all start eating each other when that VA lab accident takes place, for now, more probing…

        I am also starting to think Pres. Trump needs to fire each and every hang-over Klingon from Obama Admin. They are ticking bombs of disruption and liability. (not eve we aliens saw that one coming)

      2. @OLD MARINE,
        yea, I watched that video a long time ago.
        I also watched one where Alex Jones confronted an elected official, and was that hilarious. That asswipe got really pissed. Especially when he found out Alex had video taped the “goings on” at the “Grove”!
        Then Alex, while taping that, started laughing at the asswipe!
        Hil-fucking-larious!!!!!

  13. Off Topic – During the televised news conference, Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s face was that of being very pleased. And, both leaders directly mentioned these words, “Radical Islamic Terrorism.” For more details, please review the video clip to see for yourself;

    “https://6abc.com/news/trump-asks-netanyahu-to-hold-back-settlements/1756086/”

    When the webpage loads, scroll down about 1/3 of the page, and the video will be on the left side of the screen. To observe Netanyahu’s facial expressions, open the video into theater mode. Theater mode can be achieved by clicking on the bottom right icon located next to the speaker volume [you’ll see 2 arrows pointing away from each other in the opposite direction].

  14. I don’t understand why congress would say they will cut off funding for a program in which the entity spending the money is doing what was intended, rather than going to the nitwits getting money but unable to produce anything for the money spent.

    Why slow this down rather than telling the VA that since they cannot get their act together, they will implement the same system the DOD chooses.

    But then, in the end, after billions are spent, a veteran will be told all their records were lost in a fiery hard drive crash and burn.

  15. I can’t really comment on this. Not without a sledge hammer. With todays systems, why the fuck would they still be using such old crap? Why is it that Government insists on using outdated shit? And paying 50 times what it’s worth? IBM was not a good choice? wt actuall F? That”s like saying ” we decided to go with cessna, over nothrop” and then realizing oops we can’t re-fuel in md-air. Fuck……….they are all wingwalkers………..No I take that back…..wingwalkers have balls,,,,,,,,,,even the lady wingwalkers………well congress? where are YOUR balls?
    Should be a new commercial parroding “what’s in your wallet” More like a lost james Bond movie “Golden Balls” Well congress how about this “Goldfinger”
    …………………./´¯/)
    ………………..,/¯../
    ………………./…./
    …………./´¯/’…’/´¯¯`·¸
    ………./’/…/…./……./¨¯\
    ……..(‘(…´…´…. ¯~/’…’)
    ………\……………..’…../
    ……….”…\………. _.·´
    …………\…………..(
    …………..\………….\…

    1. @cj– Nice pixelated digit art. Rumor has it that’s the preferred finger the VA witch dr.’s use for prostate exams. They also use that same finger in their homelands to make cows go into heat. 🙂

  16. “Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), MD, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, echoed concerns in 2015 regarding interoperability and usability, especially in the context of sharing records between DOD and the VA. “If we allow the DOD to put in a system that then can’t interconnect, that is not interoperable with other systems, that will be a big mistake,”…

    Let me noodle this one….(paraphrasing) “If we continue to pour money into a project that is meant to enhance interconnectedness that is incapable of interconnecting, and which all agencies tasked with doing thhis refuse to connect to each other on the project, then that would be a mistake.”

    WOW!!! Insight seen only from the mighty throne of power and whispered in the hallowed halls of justice and freedom. Can I do it too? Where do I sign up? I am at wits end though what we should do about it Congressman? Maybe a condom tax can fund a task force to study the problem? We could set aside a portion of the tax to educate vets on condom use too which should reduce the number of unwanted/unplanned veterans being born reducing the overall burden on the system (RAND 2016). We can name the task force Operation Raincoat to replace the dated Operation Whitewash currently deployed.

    Am I congressional material or what? Where do I sign up? Lawyer school?

    1. As for me I think we should have put Jim Carey in charge of VA. George Carlin would have been better but he’s dead.

      1. I voted for Carlin – knowing full well he’s been dead for a long time. Better choice than the two I was given. Youtube, “Carlin The American Dream”.

  17. Hey, “cj”, when you come on here today, check out these two videos!

    #1) titled:
    “Islam and Pedophiles Now Have Control of Europe”

    Dated: Feb 14, 2017 (9:09 min. long)
    From: “InfoWars.com”
    with links to verify!
    __________________________________

    #2) titled:

    “Sanctuary City Sheriff Plans to Release Child Rapist After Arrest”

    Dated: Feb 15, 2017. (5:55 min. long)
    “Millie Weaver reporting”
    In the video, you’ll see where the main stream media is even disgusted with these two rapists! (NBC 74, FOX NEWS etc)!
    Even *IF* you don’t like Infowars, one cannot dispute the “facts” on these articles! It happened in “Travis County”!
    This is actually about two rapists, (pedophiles), who are being let loose back into the society! One with just an “ankle bracelet”!
    Even though they are required by law to be turned over to ICE for deportation! The sheriff is not complying!
    One of these asswipes actually raped a “7 year old girl!”

    1. @Crazy elf: You must be phycic……i spent hours last night looking into the mess Europe is in over the Muslim takeove. Mass rapes, moestations, etc. They too have media blackouts on these crimes. Nope no muslim rapes. Move along, nothing to see here. Then there is a youtube video of a street fight between the Russians and the Muslims…………those Russian boys did a number on those Muslims. That is how you get rid of scum from your country. “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsIykHP_D_U”

    2. @Crazy elf: The shariff is the one that needs to go to jail. We need to send him to Russia with Muslim tattoo”d on his forehead.

      1. @”cj”,
        Down in Texas, the Governor is planning on doing just that: “jailing the local government, ie: mayors, sheriff’s and anyone else, who refuses to abide by the law!
        I wonder if there are any other states following suit?

      2. @Crazy elf:I sure hope so. I have had it with all these sjw’s, they can get on the bus too. Pick a country you want to go, and we will pay for your ticket. The less of these snowflakes are in this great country the better it will become. Well worth the price of the tickets out. I WANT MY DAMN COUNTRY BACK!!!! And I am sick of being blamed for everything under the sun. It’s not my fault…………….it’s D.C’s fault for allowing these criminals to remain here. DRAIN the SWAMP!!!

        Perfect Libtard reasoning…..young Swedish girl is beaten, gang raped, and left for dead by invading Muslims, Court full of Libtards rule……………………….she didn’t fight back hard enough……………….not guilty.

        5 Muslims invaders who brutaly gang raped a wheelchair-bound woman for hours were set free because the women didn’t try to RUN away. This is seperate from the previous one listed.

        And another: a 31-year.old man from Marl was found not guilty at the Essen District Court because his victim (15) didn’t fight enough. Never mind the fact that he was gulty of statutory rape. Witch in that country carries up to a min of a 3 year sentence.

        I know what my dream job would be………..they just need to make it legal.

        BAN THESE FUCKING MUSLIMS NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

  18. Got a CD from St. Louis yesterday, supposedly of my HR. Nothing on it. wasn’t even formatted. Nice label though.

    I thought there was a shift by the VA to DOD. The VA has a bunch of separate systems by region and is open to hacking. DOJ is integrated and has more resources to combat hacking. Best DOJ manage all of our HR including in the VA.

    1. Went to get medical records from the Minneapolis VA Med Center a few years back. Told them to call me when ready and I’d pick them up. Weeks later, no call. Called them. They said they had mailed them. Spent days with the Postal Service tracking any such package. Futile. Lost. No way of knowing if they sent them in the first place. Employees at the counters don’t even know where to look or how to research the problem.
      Order the records again. This time in person. Person taking the order couldn’t even spell my name correctly or get my information right.
      Couple of weeks later, they call. I go to get the records. They are incomplete.
      AND THERE’S NO WAY TO FIRE THESE PEOPLE. THEY’RE THERE FOR LIFE.

      1. I know I have said this before. The only way we veterans will see Justice, is when the Senators vote on the Holman Rule and as many veterans as possible must contact their Senator’s in their district all over the country and request that they Vote Yes and make it Law.

        It’s our only chance to help ourselves.

  19. From:
    “Military.com/Daily News”
    1) titled:

    “New VA Secretary Urged to Push Hiring Freeze Exemptions”

    15 Feb 2017 | by Richard Sisk
    He’s wanting to hire 37,000+!
    Quote: “[Robert] Snyder then issued [last month] his own memo listing the positions that could be exempted, ranging from medical officer and nurse to security guard and laundry worker!”

    2) titled;

    “VA Disability Claims Backlog Grows Despite Paperless Fix”

    14 Feb 2017 | by Richard Sisk

    It’s now standing at around 101,000! More B/S from “Agent Orange Denier” Murphy!

    When will the bullshit end from the VA?

    1. It won’t. It only gets worse, year after year because you can’t fire any of the employees. IMO, there’s only one solution: Veteran’s Choice. The way it works is each Veteran can get the healthcare they want and need from the provider of their choice, and the bill goes to the VA. Close all the VA medical facilities. Close the VA. Fold it into the Medicare system and move their hundreds of billions of dollars in budget money in the same direction. No need to have duplicate operations; and the Medicare system WORKS.

      And don’t forget the fire at the VA’s St Louis records center a couple of decades back, when it was reported that maybe a third of all records were lost. The VA is totally incompetent.

      1. I was in contact with the VA specialist from senator’s Bennett’s office in Denver, I told her about the employee who falsely accused me of the Disruptive Behavior and that I had all the proof needed to prove what I was saying is Correct by the evidence.

        The specialist stated we can not do anything to any VA employee and can not make the VA change anything.

        I brought up the Holman Rule, at first she stated she did not know what that was. During our conversation she looked up the Holman Rule and stated the Rule was not in effect, as the Senate has not passed it as yet.

        I asked what can you do then ? Nothing except make an inquiry to the VA ! and what ever they say is good enough. So you can not do nothing ? RIGHT !

        She did not seemed concerned that on the News they have said the VA was Lying about veterans dying because of wait lists or veterans records being thrown in basements or being destroyed. I advised her NOT to contact the VA !

        I told her that I wanted a meeting with senator Bennett himself and told to request a meeting with him. Which I did, waiting for a formal reply.

        Since the Holman is not in effect per the specialist when I see Bennett I will just show him what I have and ask him to vote yes on the Holman Rule.

        I think since I was advised that it has not passed yet, that Veterans MUST contact their congressman and tell them that you would like them to vote YES, when it comes up as a BIll.

        The way I understood it, that the Rule was in effect NOW for one year. Don’t know if I misunderstood or if the Senator’s specialist was telling me an untruth.

      2. James, I got a call from Bennets aide a couple days ago. About an inquiry I wanted his office to do last year.

        It seems his aide in another office just ignored many veteran contacts, and those were just passed on to this new aide to handle.

        I explained to her the inquiry was a moot issue because I had spent several months fighting the VA and eventually resolved the issue on my own. I also mentioned the smart remarks I got from Bennets aide in Denver when I called that office last year.

        She apologized several times for the ball getting dropped.

        Something is changing. I think many in the VA, the Choice program and elsewhere are finally worried about their job, and are now doing it.

        I was again referred to Choice by my VA because again, they do not have a specialist on staff. I expected days of phone calls and many excuses before getting the appointment.

        I gave Choice the one week I was told it would take for them to contact me. Choice called yesterday to verify information, and to tell me they would be contacting the provider to schedule the appointment…if he still participates in the Choice program.

        As I said. Something is changing, and these people are finally doing their jobs.

      3. Do you remember who you spoke with at Bennett’s office. I just hope Bennett will vote yes on the Holman Rule. Don’t know if you see on the news where citizens out of Pueblo were protesting in Pueblo about Cory Gardner hiding from the people of his area.

        Are you in South East Colorado. I am from La Junta.

      4. James, I am in Grand Junction. The aide I spoke with was from Durango.

        Those protesting Gardner are paid protesters and they made the same stink here in Junction.

        Those protesters are trying to scare Gardner and others into not supporting Trumps agenda. The problem is, Gardner is such a weasel, he doesn’t need much scaring.

        Gardner deserves what he gets since he is so spineless.

        This protest, and others around the country, irritates the hell out of me because it drowns out anything a concerned citizen has to say.

        I just hope those elected representatives recognize them for the paid rabble rousers they are.

      5. Sorry, but I am one of those protesting and I get paid 0. Our Senator’s are not listening to its citizens or Veterans and they need to be reminded that they work for us not the VA or special interest. They ignore their E-mails phone calls and then with Veterans having problems with the VA, will tell the Veteran we can not do anything if the VA hurts you.

        All of the Protesters I met are all citizens from Pueblo and small towns. To bad someone has told you a Lie about any of them getting paid. They are citizens trying to be heard and their Senators don’t care.

        I am going again this time I am carrying a sign stating VA is Lying, Veterans are dying. I am tired of the VA accusing Veterans of what they call disruptive Behavior and denying veterans claims and those veterans killing themselves because of lack of treatment. Or feeding them many drugs and then stopping them cold turkey. Some of those drugs are very additive and when stopped can and does effect the Brain and will cloud the veterans thinking and they give up, no one cares so I will kill myself.

        That’s not right and I for one will do what ever is needed Legally, to try and help. Who is going to do it, if we don’t stop talking about it and take action.

        Remember, the VA is killing Veterans.

      6. James, you miss my point, and the paid protesters is not a lie. In fact, if you go to the Drudge Report right now, there is a NY Post article linked about his OFA group having a training manual on how to disrupt their town hall meetings.
        My point against those protesters is if they show up simply to boo and raise hell and take up time on the microphone, how can any veteran get a chance to say anything about the VA?

        Those in Pueblo may be local citizens, but those here in Grand Junction are paid protesters, or protesters who have no intention of letting anyone else speak.

        That OFA group is Obama’s Organizing for Action group, and their intent is to try portray local citizens as not wanting GOP lawmakers to repeal Obamacare, not do anything about immigration from Islamic nations and not building a border wall.

        Clearly their intent is to try bully Republican lawmakers because you don’t hear anything about Democrat town halls.

        Again, I don’t see how a veteran can be heard when a town hall is full of screaming crazies who have no intention of letting that veteran be heard.

        Read the NY Post article.

      7. a town hall meeting has not happened yet, they want to be heard and I will take the chance to stand up for veterans. If we do get a town meeting, I will try and speak to the senator, I will bring up the Holman Rule and ask it to be passed.

        I have come to the conclusion, that if we want anything done we have to pressure our elected officials to listen to us. They are ignoring all of us. I am getting up in age and I do not want other veterans to suffer because of Bad VA Employees.

        The Holman Rule is the only way Federal Employee’s can be held accountable, If I don’t try who will. I don’t care about Republicans or Democrats, I care about Justice !

        To Many people sit and complain, but when the shit hits the wall, they just sit there and complain. Its time for action. If we as veterans don’t speak out, then we don’t deserve to have any changes.

        Action is louder than words. My thought.

      8. So who do I sign up with 91? I need the money. $50/ hour sound real good to me right now. Or is that an alternate fact like McCains offer to pick lettuce for a season?

      9. Lem, if you search craigslist, there are several ads in major cities looking for paid agitators.

        $15 per hour and full benefits.

      10. That is not $50 as stated by some on the news but better than nothing. Will take a look.

        Wow! Trumpers are paying more!

      11. Yeh! Enough I can even afford to travel to a Trump Rally! Who new the new politics. Thanks, 91. I’ll be able to eat a few months more.

  20. Hey, John Minnick J.D. looks like “OLD MARINE” and “namnibor” just “nailed your hands and feet to the cross!”
    And you call yourself a lawyer!?!??!
    Like namnibor said, “If your not helping your part of the problem!”
    The few times you’ve been on here, all you can do is complain about Ben’s “wording”! He backs up everything he writes.

    1. I’m also wondering. How much of that $180+ BILLION does the VA have left?
      I wonder this because, VA doesn’t have a very good record of keeping tabs on their expenditures! When was the last time they were audited? When was the last time VA, (as mandated by law) to turn in their “accounting expenditures” to Congress?
      Of course, we’re going to see a lot of bullshit from VA, they spend lots of taxpayers monies on shit they don’t need. That HAS BEEN PROVEN!

      1. @Crazy elf — Yeah, rather than the VA working *with* the DOD to make a seamless system that *helps Vets*, the VA will be found in future months/years to have spent the $$ on Psych. Dept. research & development of “Mood Ring Toilet Seats”, where the electronic toilet seat reads your body functions then automatically drops required medications like a hamster feeder from above in the stall. This “Mood Ring Toilet Seat” will seamlessly integrate into the VA TelePsychMedicine Booths. Spared no expense, but sadly does not integrate with the DOD’s system where they literally do not give a shit what the VA does. The DOD probably is afraid the VA will infect the UCMJ somehow through exposure to concentrated corruption, also known as impacted shitheads.

        Rant Out.

      2. namnibor,
        Or, the VA will be caught purchasing more “large rocks” (to put in small ponds on VHA properties) to help veterans relax!
        Or, how about more “pictures” for thousands of taxpayers monies. Which could have been picked up at Wally World for a fraction of the cost.
        Or, how about more “lighted ‘Morse Code’ banners to parking lots for the blind! (This one really pissed me off)!!!!!
        Or, how about giving more “bonuses” to the incompetent VHA employees.
        This list of “fraud, waste and abuse by VA could go on and on and on and on ———- Just like the “Energizer Bunny”!

      3. @Crazy elf —

        Except the Energizer Bunny at least has the decency to stop his incessant banging-up of things when all out of power. The VA always, always says, “More Please, Sir”?, way before the cookie jar is depleted to keep the meat grinder churning…and a gaggle of interior designers to ensure the rear orifice of the meat grinder has color-changing ass cheeks and lighted runway carpet and walls leading-up to the meat grinder’s dump…then…next? May I please have another, Sir? That’s what a “data dump’ is to the VA and why the DOD was not likely thrilled about the infection of the AFGE and VA incompetence.
        I think by design, the VA likes to remain as fragmented as it is in having so many systems, but not all systems being able to freely share data and communicate…the VA’s machines reflect the very humans working there. Scattered and disjointed.

        Our Veteran data is very likely not secure at all or bare minimum with the VA, whereas the VA runs a tight ship. A tight ship does not want that rust infection the V.A. Titanic is infected with.

  21. The VA and the DOD have had a monumental Valentine’s Day breakup with their incompatible computer systems.
    The DOD preferred rich creamy chocolates, while the VA prefers those gourmet chocolate covered turds because the VA swamp water blends with them to form a rich gravy of turd slurry.

    I truly believe the VA went entirely out of their way to ensure they would not have that VA Kryptonite called Accountability, and it’s my theory the VA sabotaged it’s own progress in order to NOT be on the exact same system as DOD…just to obscure the VA Cookie Jar contents, nothing less.

    In the end, the VA is indeed like a box of chocolates, except you KNOW you are getting a chocolate covered turd every time. Every time.

    1. Nam, I don’t know if the VA intentionally screwed up this process, or if this was just another example of the VA hiring project managers from within.

      You know, like have a construction manager with zero experience with large projects like the Aurora hospital.

      Or dieticians working their way into a directors position at a hospital.

      1. @91Veteran– “[Or dieticians working their way into a directors position at a hospital.]”

        They have to attain a certain circumference & mass as part of working their way into a director’s position so all they have to do is grab a bite of their lunch that’s in constant orbit around their gravitational field.

      2. That may very well be how congress critters remain on a stairmaster, all those pallets of printed US $ floating around their orbits keeping them stationary.

      3. More likely the DOD contractor wanted the contract and eventually got it by undermining the effort from outside. And there was the difficulty of just marrying up the several different systems (check your document copies for which system they are from) within the VA. If you went from Sheridan to Cheyenne VA you were on two different computer systems. God only knows how many individual VA directors got kick backs to develop their own system.

        Easiest route would have been to convert all to .pdf (the record cd that we receive from St. Louis) and have the military be able to convert encrypted .pdf to their system. After all the veteran and military person need to have copies of their medical documents for adjudications.

  22. Some analysts were skeptical that any of the bidders was up to the task. In the end, the Pentagon had a choice among three finalists who offered fairly mediocre systems for the price, said Ross Koppel, a professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania who studies health information technology. “All the systems are stunningly clunky, the interfaces are state of the art 15 years ago, the usability is far inferior to every other system of the modern era, and the lack of interoperability makes a hash of the data,” Koppel said. and this is from LAB SOFT NEWS

  23. The primary criticism, expressed in several mainstream media stories in the days leading up the announcement, was that the Pentagon was choosing between finalists that all offer clunky, old-school, client-server technology that would end up costing taxpayers more than it should….and this is from MEDCITY NEWS

  24. Cerner is “garbage”??? I am not a Cerner associate but I have followed the company closely since 1988 and have been favorably impressed with their growth and reputation. Please state why you believe that Cerner is “garbage”? In law school they teach that statements need to be supported by facts in order to draw a fair conclusion. You did not provide any facts to support your statement. Your comments would be appreciated since according to your bio you are also an attorney. Thank you.

    1. I have followed the company closely since 1988 and have been favorably impressed with their growth and reputation….. sounds like you own stock in that company and it would be a major WIN for you

    2. @John Minnick– Thanks for your dick head corporate attorney comment. Must be afraid your stock earnings may be affected by negative news? Helping Veterans or helping yourself much lately? Shakespeare was correct about *most* attorneys, not all, but most with same flavor of swamp water you wade in. If you are not helping you are part of the problem.

    3. Tell me sir precisely which law school you went to that erroneously teaches lawyers to support their statements wih facts in order to win judgements! You win judgements by supporting statements with inuendo, playing to the emotions of the jury, pointing fingers everywhere but your client, and ny obtaining successful orders to supress evidence that does not supprt your case.

      Look at your own post as an example – you did jot say “which” law school, you did not say that “you” went to law school, you implied that “you” have personal knowledge of law school curriculum. Then you proceeded to lecture a highly visible veterans advocate attorney who has secured for tens of thousands of veterans a square shot at fairness within VA about not providing enough facts while at the same time excluding any verifiable fact of your own in those charges?

      Additionally you post on a veteran centric website but do not identify yourself as part of that group either…

      My conclusion is that you do not know what law schools teach lawyers. I suspect that Ben does. I suspect you are not a veteran. Ben is.

      Don’t get me wrong – I have some of the very best lawyer jokes around. They teach those in clown school. You should try one of those places. Your a natural and VA has unlimited billions of material that clowns like us can draw upon, right? I’ll bring the oversized shoes and you bring the red nose.

      1. Here is the Lawfirm JD works at “https://www.lawsaia.com/about-the-firm” You will notice that the only picture of an employee who’s name starts with a J is the last picture. Isn’t he cuuuuuute???

      1. @namnibor: Are you saying he is trying to jack off a dinosaur?
        JD: T-Rex stand till
        T-Rex: Leave me alone Fool

    4. Oh boy, John JD, you really stepped out on a ledge with this one. I see at least four logical fallacies in your argument that I will explain below. As an aside, I hope you did not pay too much for that JD of yours…

      I wrote the article to highlight taxpayers should pay attention, especially with the health records of military service members, after spending billions unsuccessfully in the past. You wrote your comment to defend Cerner as a company generally while also attacking me directly. Interesting approach. Not a good one, but interesting.

      In the article above, I cited a source (hyperlinked) and the comment was in quotes – somehow you missed that before penning your aspersions. Further, my article is about MHR Genesis, as is the one I cited, and the citations here to that “garbage” comment. You somehow missed the facts I included from the audit finding 10,000 cybersecurity problems found in August and failed to do your own research.

      First, you assert Cerner has good “growth” with a good “reputation” as evidence of the company being incapable of creating a “garbage” product. Your assertion is based on a false premise that such companies are incapable of making bad products. Case in point would be Samsung and its Galaxy phones that blow up. Samsung makes great appliances, but at least one of their phones is “dangerous” and “banned” from planes. I would call such a phone “garbage” now because they do not work after blowing up.

      Is Samsung incapable of making a garbage phone if they have good growth and a good reputation since 1988? Obviously, your premise is flawed.

      Now, in your arguments, you pulled a red herring logical fallacy to assert I am the one calling Cerner, in general, a “garbage” company, despite its growth and reputation you highlight, when I merely suggest that one of its products may be faulty based on facts and allegations from industry insiders.

      You then malign me as a person, implying I did not make a fair argument despite going to law school like you. This is an ad hominem attack, to distract (unsuccessfully) from the points while further falsely asserting I included no facts, which are directly below the citations I provided.

      You piled on a false premise with a syllogistic fallacy with a red herring followed up by an ad hominem attack against me directly. Adding your four logical fallacies together does not mean Genesis, as a software product, may or may not be “garbage.”

      Personally, I would appreciate the feedback from industry users, reviewers and insiders about the product more so than I would an attorney who apparently believes all companies are great so long as they have good growth and a good reputation. I know a lot of companies that had both going into the 2008 crash who were most certainly selling “garbage” financial products to consumers and businesses as investment vehicles.

      Nonetheless, if MHR Genesis is garbage, I am sure DOD will fire Cerner and hire Epic. This issue affects the lives of our soldiers; it is not just a matter of dollars and cents for the white shoe boys on Wall Street.

      1. Damn Ben,

        You fucked his ass up with all them fancy ass lawyer terms. Red bones , herrings , fallocies and shit. I need some new vocabulary now. I would have clearly just throat punched and kick him in the nuts.
        How the hell is he going to come on a veterans blog, looking like a male version of Lin Halliday at the OIG office.
        His titties must hurt after that flogging.

        There is always one dweeb in the bunch. Fucking fartbox!

      2. VA Disability claims back log Grows Despite paperless Fix 2 14 17. The claims back log stood at about 76,000 last May, Last Week the backlog stood at about 101,000 cases.

        Several service organizations said they are Generally in favor of the Paperless claims system, That Allows VA to Shift cases among regional offices. But its no good if the decision is Inaccurate and if our Advocates have NO way to explain the rating decisions to our Veterans.

        Military Times.

      3. The growing backlog is the result of the elimination of going cheap and having PA’s and NP’s doing C&P examinations. My BVA results are awaiting a competent redo of a 2015 examination instead of taking the examination on which the appeal was based as the base. And that can’t be done because the 2010 examination was done by a non English Speaking overseas examination which included neurobehavioral testing requiring an English Speaking examiner. I was in Japan and the VA refused to send me to Tripler of do the exam when I had an emergency family trip to Wyoming in 2009 and sent me back to Japan for the exam as they had in 2001 supposedly because that was my “residence address” and not my DC temporary address where the examination could have been done correctly.

      4. Not to add too much to the beat down of Little Johnny, but a good growth, good reputation of any company will go right out the window once it becomes known their software product is more full of holes than a Bill Clinton excuse for the stains on his pants.

        Any software will have security holes. Bad software will have several holes. Disastrous software, particularly that designed to handle sensitive information such as medical records might have a few hundred.

        10000 holes is an example of programmers throwing crap at the wall hoping their software will work without a Blue Screen of Death. 10000 holes in medical record software is an example of a company putting together a package without any concern whatsoever for patient privacy, among many other things. Its also an example of shocking laziness on the companies part.

        Now, Johnny, you’ve seen what a few blog commenters can find simply by searching on your name. Why should our military and veterans trust our personal health privacy to software that is so insecure?

        Why not post more of your personal information, hemorrhoid problems, STD treatments and mental health consults here if secure software and privacy is no big deal?

        Finally, isn’t it misleading to claim you are a J.D. if you haven’t graduated yet?

        I suggest you run along there skippy.

      5. James, paperless claims are also no good if nobody in the VA system will admit to which claims they handled.

        If they shift claims among regional offices, I could see a lot of claims denials being made, and signed off on using a fictitious name…something like Jane Minnick.

        And nobody in the VA would know who she was.

      6. @91Veteran – Oh, but Johnny’s middle name is Jane. He has to have some way to track his ROI [Return on Investment = $$$$$]. Never mind how the VA system is a disservice to Veterans. Geesh.

        And Johnny, sorry I mean Jane, you may want to read this legal article if you’re stating that you earned a degree, but in reality you didn’t.

        “https://www.shakelaw.com/blog/lying-on-your-resume/”

    5. John, I am not at all favorably impressed with your reading or comprehension skills. Re-read that section and you will see Ben was recounting what an insider said.

      One would think SUNY Buffalo would teach their law students better reading skills.

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