Global geopolitical changes, weather, health and macroeconomics play a part in managing our everyday supply chain. Addressing these factors while accounting for operational agency challenges are becoming a critical part of a supply chain practitioners job. Gaps in reliable, complete data, integrated analysis, undocumented risk assessment procedures, and unclear roles and responsibilities are contributing factors to a vulnerable supply chain risk management program. Elizabeth (“Beth”) Van Absher, Director of the NIH Division of Logistics Services (DLS), and Moshe Nelson, Partner in Guidehouse’s Defense & Security Segment, provide public and private sector perspectives on how we can collectively further supply chain resilience.

Elizabeth Van Absher, Director of Logistics Services and Supply Chain Management, National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Elizabeth "Beth" Van Absher is the director of Logistics Services and Supply Chain Management at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) overseeing $1.9B worth of accountable personal property, fleet, and the NIH Supply Center (NIHSC). The NIHSC is the agency’s priority source for laboratory, fire, safety, and administrative supplies, and is the agency’s mandated source for personal protective equipment (PPE). Van Absher is the lead for the NIH Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM) Council, in addition to serving as the agency representative on the HHS SCRM. She is a critical driver of good for government outcomes, ensuring supply chain stability through strategic sourcing, enterprise data sharing, collaboration, and modernization.

Van Absher is an integral part of the NIH and HHS teams to implement the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Public Law 117-58, collaborating across acquisitions, policy, HHS agencies and suppliers to ensure compliance with IIJA. Beth was also the lead for the PPE Plan of Action under Section 708 of the Defense Production Act in Response to COVID-19, during which the NIH Supply Center provided critical PPE to national intake sites on behalf of HHS to volunteers, children, families, and refugees. She also served as the agency lead for nitrile glove enterprise sourcing on behalf of HHS’s BuySmarter program.

Moshe Nelson, Partner Guidehouse
Bio: Moshe has provided supply chain management strategy, technology, and analytics across the public and private sector for nearly twenty years. As a result, clients have reduced operating costs by over $300M, fielded advanced technologies in an efficient and effective manner, and established accountable and data driven means for critical lifecycle supply chain management. Moshe has supported the health, defense, homeland security, diplomatic, and infrastructure arenas to improve supply chain resiliency across the United States.

Guidehouse
Guidehouse is a leading global provider of consulting services to the public sector and commercial markets, with broad capabilities in management, technology, and risk consulting. By combining our public and private sector expertise, we help clients address their most complex challenges and navigate significant regulatory pressures focusing on transformational change, business resiliency, and technology-driven innovation. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing, and digital services, we create scalable, innovative solutions that help our clients outwit complexity and position them for future growth and success.

The public focus of EHR modernization has been on configuring a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solution that blends all the requirements that are unique to the VA with a system that is widely used in the commercial sector. But equally or even more importantly, the VA needs to continue to invest in, maintain, and upgrade its current EHR – the Veterans Health Information System Technology Architecture (VistA).

Today we discuss these insights which are from a recent Federal News Network guest article authored by David Whitmer, FACHE, vice president for federal operations at DSS Inc. David also discusses how no matter what the outcome of the COTS solution, VistA will remain the vital backbone of VA operations.



David Whitmer, FACHE, Vice President for Federal Operations at DSS Inc.

Mr. Whitmer is the Vice President, Federal Operations at DSS Inc., and is a board-certified healthcare executive with 30 years of public health experience at the National Institutes of Health and the Veterans Health Administration, including 20 years in C-suite positions, and 10 years as member of the Senior Executive Service.

DSS Inc.
Document Storage Systems, Inc. (DSS) is a catalyst for health care innovation, keeping pace with evolving technologies as a solutions provider, systems integrator, and services contractor to the Department of Veterans Affairs. DSS is committed to assisting VA in its High Reliability Organization journey and delivering care quality for Veterans by meeting top initiatives, changing regulatory requirements, and implementing enhanced business transformation across VA enterprise.

Every day in the United States, thousands of legitimate prescriptions for the opioid class of pharmaceuticals are written to mitigate acute pain during post-operation recovery, chronic back and neck pain, and a host of other cases where patients experience moderate-to-severe discomfort. While many of these drugs provide pain relief, the potential for misuse and outright abuse due to their addictive nature is extremely high.

Since the 1990s, opioid abuse in the U.S. skyrocketed to the point that in 2017 the Department of Health and Human Services declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. This epidemic affects more than just individuals – families and communities, as well as the U.S. healthcare system at the federal, state, and local level, carry this burden emotionally and financially.

Solving this crisis can and should be supported by insights gained from the vast amounts of data available to healthcare providers and government agencies. The healthcare industry, in partnership with government agencies, must engage with a robust modern data management solution that can extract electronic health data in the form of controlled substance data, prescriber data, and patient data and transform it into meaningful, measurable, and actionable information. Today we talk with Rob Carey, the President of Cloudera Government Solutions on this topic.

Rob Carey, President of Cloudera Government Solutions

As a highly recognized executive, Rob Carey leads the public sector team at Cloudera Government Solutions during a time in government when data-centric projects and digital transformation is of the utmost importance. As former U.S. Navy CIO and Deputy DOD CIO, Carey uses his 30+ years of federal experience to apply what’s needed to meet the standards for the future of IT modernization in government. He supports customers across the federal civilian and defense sector as they continue to navigate data-driven challenges and work to meet key White House directives.

Cloudera Government Solutions

Government agencies are faced with a multitude of challenges, including aging legacy systems, fraud and abuse, and sophisticated cyberattacks. More than ever, they need a proven platform that can securely manage their data. Cloudera Government Solutions addresses these challenges by simplifying data acquisition and delivery – providing public sector leaders with the insights they need to make better and more timely decisions.
Cloudera Government Solutions partners with federal, state and local, and higher education institutions to support data security and governance mandates, modernize data architectures across any platform, and meet the zero-trust mandate related to data flow. With customers across 40 global governments, Cloudera can accelerate data movement and digital transformation to accomplish your mission.