VETERANS’ HEALTH CARE - Preliminary Observations on VHA’s Claims Processing Delays and Efforts to Improve the Timeliness of Payments to Community Providers
existing VA care in the community programs, as required by law, the agency said it will examine strategies for improving the timeliness and accuracy of its payments to community providers ... VHA’s timeliness in processing claims; (3) community providers’ experiences; and (4) VHA’s recent actions and plans to improve its claims processing and payment timeliness. To conduct its ongoing work ... in geographic location, performance, and workload); reviewed VHA documents and 156 claims from those 4 locations; and interviewed officials from VHA, Medicare, TRICARE, and selected community providers and state ... Data processing hold back by technology limitation, workload and administrative burden ... US GAO analyzed all factors of slower processing and user unfriendliness that occur sometimes to the veterans healthcare. The main focus is data processing - and it has been proved that it can ... be failing not only because of technology, but also because of work-process design, staff and organisation.
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Audit on the broadband internet infrastructure access
Poland has been granted over PLN 4 billion from the European Regional Development Fund to build the broadband internet access infrastructure. As part of three operational programmes 90 percent ... of assumed financing was contracted, namely PLN 3.9 billion. By the end of 2015, Poland should complete the investment and account for the expenses. According to NIK there is a risk that the infrastructure ... construction will not be completed by the deadline and the EU funds may not be used to the full. ... ... Simpler regulations and better supervision needed ... Polish SAI audited a project, which aim had been to develop broadband internet network across the country. They revealed that legal obstacles, idleness and lack of supervision were the main causes ... of delays. Some of the projects are in danger of not being completed on time and some of the EU funds may not be fully used.
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Effectiveness of development of broadband network or high-speed internet
analysed whether the network of fibre-optical cables or the basic broadband network, which is built with European Union support and should guarantee high-speed internet connection, has helped to achieve ... The National Audit Office audited whether the state has made every effort to ensure that everyone can have unlimited access to fast internet connection by 2020. The National Audit Office also ... this goal. ... ... ... Slower broadband paid by customers ... superfast internet of over 100 Mbit/s. To achieve these goals, the state, with the help of European Union support, decided to establish a broadband network which is not further than 1.5 km from 98% of homes ... The Estonian Information Society Development Plan foresees that high-speed internet of 30 Mbit/s should be accessible to all people in Estonia by 2020 and that 60% of the population will be using ... and institutions. Private companies have not entirely met the Government's expectations. The Estonian SAI has looked for an answer: Why?
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Digitisation of municipal services
and the private sector. The municipal sector is a significant provider of public services, and digitisation of municipal services is therefore essential for achieving this goal.<br/>The audit surveyed the status ... The purpose of digitisation is to increase the quality and efficiency of public services. It is a goal to make online services the norm for public administration's communication with citizens ... , assessed the significance of and possible obstacles to digitisation of municipal services. The audit examined how the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation's use of policy instruments contributes ... ... Municipalities have not digitised their services to any extent ... Digitisation increases the quality and efficiency of public services and municipal sector is a significant provider of public services. Report of Riksrevisjonen of Norway shows however ... , that municipalities need a substantial support to execute this demanding task. To provide them with help, the central government has to coordinate own efforts first.
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IT security in the Federal Administration
The SFAO has audited the Admin PKI – the basic infrastructure and offering for the issuing of digital certificates – within the Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunication ... (FOITT). The examination concentrated on assessing the development and current operation as well as future prospects. Admin PKI refers to all processes and the hardware and software needed for issuing ... certificates of different grades. ... Technical and organizational deficiencies work together against data security ... Only minor deficiencies were revealed in the Windows environment but only in case of Microsoft products.Providers' lack of both assertiveness and synergy adds to 'the great unknown' of authonomous ... entities' networks.
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Effectiveness of the execution of the eHealth project
The Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia has audited how effectively the Ministry of Health had managed the project eHealth - the national plan for developing information system support ... to the national public health system in the period between 1st of January 2004 and 26th of September 2013. The audit has focused on the effectiveness of the Ministry in achieving the project’s goals, time ... management, management of the human resources and financial oversight. The goal of the Ministry was to implement a modern information system, which would support secure eHealth operations and effective ... ... Clear concept, good planning and financial control are indispensable conditions for a successful IT project ... The Court of Audit of the Republic of Slovenia analysed a Government eHealth project. Its goal was to implement a modern information system, which would support the health services and health related ... data. The Court has pointed at a long list of project management fundamentals to be corrected.
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Activities of the state in implementing the e-health system - Do the state, doctors and patients benefit from ehealth?
Estonia’s population is aging and the share of elderly people is increasing, as fewer children are being born and people are living longer. This creates a constantly growing need for health ... and social services and patients are also becoming more and more demanding about the volume and quality of the services provided. The more extensive and systematic implementation of e-health solutions helps ... make the health system more efficient, improves people’s health via more effective prevention, raises the awareness of patients and also contributes to the more reasonable use of health resources ... ... Why state, doctors and patients do not benefit from e-Health as much as they could? ... The report reviews whether the objectives set to the e-Health – ambitious multiyear program of Estonian Government - have been achieved. They are: higher quality of the health service and more ... efficient organisation of health care. As SAI Estonia found out, wide range problems started from two basic points: lack of strategic manager and unrealisitc schedule.
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The management of the State Property and Funds while Information Systems Building for the Ministry of Defence
The aim of the audit was to examine management during process of extension and modernization of the current information systems and at building of new information systems for the needs ... of the Ministry of Defence or the Army of the Czech Republic. Operating of information systems is inseparably linked with the communication infrastructure, thus the technological shift to ICT was reviewed also ... in this connection. The stationary ICT systems are determined to support management of the Ministry of Defence in period of peace. They are also supposed as a tool of crisis management. The auditing operation covered ... ... Information systems not balanced with infrastructure ... Both organizational changes and inflexibility produce unbalanced plans which cause deiscrepancies between IS and infrastructure.
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Is the project 'E-health in Latvia' a step towards the right direction?
Objective of the audit was to verify efficiency and productivity of the actions by the institutions in charge for implementation of the e-health, as well as to audit economy and productivity of use ... of funds invested in the project for achievement of set objectives and gaining the planned benefits. Audit covered such main questions: 1) Will the e-health policy be able to solve problems and achieve ... the objective? 2) Are the actual activities performed by the National Health Service justified for achievement of the set objectives? 3) Will necessary information security and personal data protection be ensured ... E-health is a step forward in right direction, but not all objectives will be reached! ... Project “E-health in Latvia” supports healthy lifestyle, it will provide valuable and accessible information and will promote more efficient provision of services to patients. It is undoubtedly ... a step towards the right direction then. However, as found the Latvian SAI, the e-health policy will not be implemented within the initially planned scope and deadline and within set data security levels ... , thus the objective of this policy – to promote more effective provision of healthcare services will be attained only partially.
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