Federal CIOs Urge Industry to Focus on Tech Outcomes Over Features

Federal health officials said commercial technology offerings still fall short in some areas and called on industry to focus on mission outcomes over product features when selling tools to government.

Federal health agencies like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) support millions of users. With such large enterprise environments, officials said users must remain central to every technology decision and investment.

“How do you connect on the products that you’re offering, the services that you’re offering, to the customers — to our customers — the people that we support?” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CIO Patrick Newbold asked during the AFCEA Health IT Summit earlier this week.

When working with vendors, Lance Jenkinson, CIO of the VA Office of Inspector General, said agencies need to ensure solutions address existing operational challenges and integrate into broader enterprise systems while protecting veterans’ data.

“How are you solving one of my problems, not just necessarily selling [me] on what you have to offer? I’m not looking to buy tools to solve my problem I may not have,” Jenkinson said.

Streamlining Operations With AI

Commercial firms can help agencies transition to shared services models, said Sridhar Mantha, acting CIO at the Food and Drug Administration.

Mantha noted that the FDA operates multiple data centers, where teams rely on a variety of software tools, making legacy system modernization a significant challenge.

Vendor solutions also need to align with mission and user requirements, Mantha said. He added that the cost of software tokens for AI computing services can sometimes outweigh the cost of human labor, complicating adoption decisions.

Another challenge is the growing number of available technology options, which can add operational complexity instead of streamlining workflows. Mantha said agencies are looking for capabilities that allow IT systems to operate more seamlessly in the background without disrupting staff productivity.

“So how does AI interplay with your company operations … or how do you operationalize AI? That’s going to be key,” Mantha said.

Focus on Requirements in Contracts

Officials also emphasized the importance of aligning agency expectations with industry offerings during the contracting process.

Contracts can present challenges, particularly when agencies must establish due diligence requirements and measurable outcomes. The speakers agreed that fixed-price contracts can provide agencies with more predictable costs while giving industry flexibility to innovate.

“It gives us federal [agencies] predictability on what cost can be, and that allows industry to innovate,” Mantha said.

Jenkinson added that governance requirements should be carefully developed without becoming overly prescriptive.

“If I have a subject matter expert particular requirement, tell me what the requirement is and propose that,” Jenkinson said.

He added that vendors sometimes propose tools before fully understanding the agency’s operational problem, making early communication critical to defining successful outcomes and building stronger contracts.

“That makes it much easier to build the contract and define the exact outcome you’re trying to achieve,” Jenkinson said.