Thursday, February 3, 2011
Articles we found interesting, the week of January 31, 2011

Gadi Ben-Yehuda

 

 

 

John Kamensky

 

  • Some Things Take Longer Than You Think. Back in the mid-1990s, the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs agreed to develop joint electronic medical records. A new GAO report, “Electronic Health Records: DOD and VA Should Remove Barriers and Improve Efforts to Meet Their Common Needs,” says they are still working on it, and are a long ways from achieving a system that will work. Sigh.
  • Let’s Get Organized! President Obama committed to reorganizing the government in his State of the Union address. This reminds me of another GAO report, from 1981, with one of my all-time favorite titles that just says it all: “Implementation: The Missing Link in Planning Reorganizations.” (don’t be alarmed; GAO scanned the report into their system upside down, but it is still readable).
  • Improving Program Design. The Center for American Progress released a terrific report and checklist for assessing the effectiveness of existing programs and for congressional staff to use when designing new programs, titled: “The Secret to Programs That Work.” Here’s hoping it doesn’t stay a secret.

 

Dan Chenok

 

Business of Government Radio Show: Rafael Borras

The Business of Government Hour features a conversation about management with a government executive who is changing the way government does business. The executives discuss their careers and the management challenges facing their organizations. Past government executives include Administrators, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Commissioners, Controllers, Directors, and Undersecretaries.

Rafael Borras oversees management of the Department of Homeland Security's $56 billion budget, appropriations, expenditure of funds, and accounting, and finance.  

Each week, The Business of Government Hour interviews government executive who are changing the way government does business. The show airs four times a week on two radio stations in the DC Metro Area. If you can't wait, though, we also put it online. You can also search our audio archives for your favorite interview.