MASSDEVICE ON CALL — The U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services and 2 other federal agencies may have blown some $321 million on IT systems that were already in place, according to a Government Accounting Office report.
The GAO identified 12 "potentially duplicative" investments at HHS, the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Defense Dept., out of the 590 it reviewed.
"These investments accounted for about $321 million in reported IT spending for fiscal years 2008 through 2013," according to the GAO.
The boondoggles included:
- "Six potentially duplicative investments at HHS, which include 4 investments that support enterprise information security and 2 for Medicare coverage determination;
- "Four such investments at DoD, which include 2 investments that track health care status of warfighters, with 1 since having been canceled, and 2 investments that manage dental care;
- “Two potentially duplicative investments at DHS that support immigration enforcement booking management, which includes the processing of apprehended illegal aliens suspected of committing criminal violations of immigration law."
"GAO recommends that DoD develop a plan and DHS and HHS conduct analyses to address the potentially duplicative investments identified in this report. DOD and HHS agreed with GAO’s recommendations but DHS disagreed. GAO believes that analysis by DHS on why 1 system would not support both agencies’ requirements is needed," according to the report.
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