Given the number of reports, studies, and analyses that are produced by or for the federal government each year, it’s easy to wonder how much of the time and resources spent assessing policies and programs actually yield tangible results.

 But then along comes a story that reminds us that, sometimes, the system works the way it’s supposed to.

Take yesterday’s news that the Department of Veterans Affairs has scrapped 12 HIT programs following evaluations under something called the Program Management Accountability System (PMAS).

Along with the Department of Defense, VA has been in the news a number of times over the past year as inspection after inspection has pointed to several problems with its IT implementation efforts.

These reported shortcomings led to the PMAS evaluation, and the subsequent cancellation of programs will reportedly save taxpayers $54 million.

The news of the program cancellations is both encouraging and timely, as it comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that the White House has called for the creation of a federal government-wide task force for HIT.

As we noted yesterday, task forces can focus policymakers’ attention on specific problems, but those problems are often more intractable than policymakers care to admit and policymakers are called on to solve them under the glare of public scrutiny.

When it comes to the federal government’s role in healthcare, perhaps the biggest problem is that federal involvement comes in many shapes and sizes. Consequently, even the preliminary assessment of what to address first will likely take some time.

With that preliminary assessment in mind, we’d suggest that the new task force begin by taking a look at this list  of current Federal Health IT Programs. The list is buried fairly deep in the pages of ONC’s website, but, assuming it’s comprehensive, it can provide both policymakers and observers with a look at the current federal HIT situation. From there, the task force can begin to articulate how its actions are going to improve how the federal government currently does its HIT business.

It won’t be easy, but the news from the VA suggests that it can be done.

Jeff Rowe blogs daily at Priming the Pump.