Act Seeks to Ensure Veterans Affairs is Updated and Functioning at Full Capacity

On November 17th, 2021 HR4626 was referred to Congressional Committee on Veterans Affairs. You can read the bill HERE .  HR 4626 goes by the title of “VA Assessment by Independent Measures Act” or the “VA AIM Act”.' The act is designed to ensure that the VA functions with efficiency, cost effectiveness and with positive outcomes. Based on some of the troubles of the past it is important to ensure we continuously improve the VA department (as well as perhaps all other departments as a general approach) to ensure positive outcomes that serve our veterans and society.

In general it states, "Independent Assessments.—Not less frequently than once every 10 years, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall enter into one or more contracts with a private sector entity or entities described in subsection (d) to conduct an independent assessment of the hospital care, medical services, and other health care furnished by the Department of Veterans Affairs."

Government systems are sometimes known to have problems because they become stuck using certain processes/mindsets that don't change quickly as the private sector to market factors (This is why govt. outsources. If they get efficient and effective they could outsource less.). Many of our systems are antiquated and based in the WWII post war emergence. We are moving into a new way of functioning (Digital Era/Information Age) and older systems will be thrusted to update not only to collaborate with wider stakeholders but also because people expect them to update. 

A formula showing how to measure
Bureaucrat performance by principle-agent problems
of incentives, selection, and measurement.
(Besley, et. al 2021)

What I like about this Bill is that it offers a mechanism to create adjustments and changes to ensure the system stays increasingly effective (We know that every 10 years.). All systems must continuously tweak toward greater efficiency and effectiveness to create the building blocks to a more functioning larger governmental system. That is unlikely to happen without some type of audit and review (Based on appropriate performance metrics that still likely need to be defined and will continue to be defined.). However, there is something to think about here.....ensuring that the auditors and people engaged  in the review are not looking simply toward efficiency but also adjusting the entire system with "out of the box" thinking toward greater effectiveness through cross organization functionality. Thus reach, effectiveness, performance, and cross institution (vendor and other agencies) integration is helpful to develop immersive (total vs. disjointed) services that use our resources well to create "net positives" for society. 

"There is a strong positive cross-sectional relationship between the level of bureaucratic capacity and the level of economic development as measured by GDP per capita." (Besley, et. al, 2021, Pg 9, para 2)

Besley, T. ,et. al (August, 2021). Bureaucracy and Development. (Working Paper 29163). National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved December 7th, 2021 https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w29163/w29163.pdf