VA adds new and updated features to its electronic health records system

• The Department of Veterans Affairs has added 15 new or updated features to its electronic health records system just ahead of two new rollouts. VA said the updates began at the end of September. Among the changes, clinicians can now see vital signs, documentation, orders and key events on one streamlined timeline. VA said that supports faster, more informed decision making in urgent situations. Another feature lets ultrasound images flow directly into the federal EHR, which VA said will reduce duplicate tests and give clinicians timely access to diagnostic information. VA said it will roll out the EHR to facilities in Alaska and Cleveland starting next week. -- Jason Miller
• Military families will soon have more insight into their teenagers' medical records. The Defense Health Agency's "mature minor" policy bars parents and guardians from attending medical appointments with their child or looking at their records without permission. That applies to kids ages 13 to 17. But the military is updating its electronic health records system, MHS Genesis, to let minors opt in to letting parents see their files. That change is expected to be in place by the end of November. -- Rachel S. Cohen
• Political influence was a top reason federal employees left their jobs last year. About half of respondents to a recent survey reported seeing the influence of politics “very often” in agency hiring and promotion decisions. And nearly three-quarters said they didn’t leave their jobs voluntarily. Many felt pressured to go. The federal employee “exit survey,” conducted by the Accountability and Reform Research Consortium, collected responses from more than 2,000 former federal employees across 55 agencies. -- Drew Friedman
• Two Marines are suing the Defense Department over a breach of the Defense Manpower Data Center’s information system that exposed personal information belonging to more than 3 million people. The lawsuit alleges that the department violated the Privacy Act of 1974 by failing to safeguard sensitive personal information and implement adequate cybersecurity controls despite internal warnings. In July, the DMDC discovered a vulnerability in its file-sharing system that allowed a “small number of unauthorized users” to access a massive swath of sensitive data, including full names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, contact information, military jobs and other records for nearly nine months. The department didn’t notify affected individuals of the breach until late September. The plaintiffs said the Pentagon exhibited “flagrant disregard for the privacy interests of service members” and “refused to take steps to implement appropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards to insure the security and confidentiality of records.” -- Anastasia Obis
• The Office of Personnel Management gave the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, access to sensitive personnel data last year. A federal judge has now ruled that OPM violated privacy law and bypassed cyber protocols when it did so. The decision this week hands a win to federal unions suing OPM over the data sharing. While the judge’s order resolves the case’s central legal arguments, the scope of relief will be considered separately. Plaintiffs are seeking to erase any copies of OPM data that DOGE still possesses. -- Drew Friedman
• Active-duty troops and their families in Florida could soon commute to work without paying any tolls. The President's Military Spouse Commission is working with the state to further subsidize road tolls for military families in certain areas after a 50% discount began over the summer. Commission Chairwoman Jennifer Hegseth said that has saved service members as much as $1,500 a year. She believes the government's agreement with Florida could become a blueprint to waive tolls in other states as well. -- Rachel S. Cohen
• A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing the Pentagon to explain how it will obtain cost and pricing data from defense contractors, including for contracts below a $10 million threshold. They are also asking whether DoD will use its authority to terminate contract negotiations with companies that refuse to provide that data. In a letter to Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg, the lawmakers expressed support for the department’s latest efforts to improve cost and pricing transparency but warned that a change in the 2026 defense policy bill could prevent the department from accessing cost or pricing information for more than 60% of its contracts. The department’s memo on cost and pricing received a lot of industry pushback because it suggested that the Pentagon would use its software to pull cost information directly from contractors’ financial systems. -- Anastasia Obis
• ATI Government Solutions is suing to get its suspension from federal contracting lifted. The 8(a) firm filed a complaint in federal court Tuesday to force the Small Business Administration to end ATI's governmentwide ban after more than a year. ATI said SBA has embarked on an effort to publicly defame ATI and to use ATI as a scapegoat to justify a broader attack on the SBA’s 8(a) program. ATI said SBA violated the Federal Acquisition Regulation, the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution because the de facto debarment came without due process. The lawsuit comes after SBA recently extended ATI's governmentwide suspension by six months. -- Jason Miller

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