I'm in Washington, ready to make my own microscopic contribution, via an innovation contest sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The deal is that rank and file workers know what's going, and know how to fix things. Social networking can be used for people to work on those ideas together, and to get buy in from management.
You might recall that very recently, I mentioned a similar agency-wide contest sponsored by the White House. There was one nomination related to veterans:
As is the case in most hospitals all across the country, medicinethat is used in the hospital is not given to patients to be broughthome; instead, it is thrown out. "Currently the inpatient medicationssuch as ointments, inhalers, eye drops, and other bulk items are beingdisposed of upon patient discharge." Nancy proposes ending this wasteand finding a way to allow this medicine to be used by those who needit.
Well, Nancy won, check out Veterans Affairs employee wins cost-cutting contest
Allowing veterans to take unused medications home upon hospitaldischarge was the top cost-saving strategy in a governmentwide contest,the Office of Management and Budget announced on Friday.
Nancy Fichtner, a Veterans Affairs Department employee fromColorado, submitted this suggestion to the Securing Americans Value andEfficiency Award contest held earlier this fall. She will meet withPresident Obama at the White House on Dec. 21 to personally present heridea for inclusion in the fiscal 2011 budget.