The Beat

How CGI Is Helping Federal Health Agencies Get AI-Ready

Episode Summary

In this episode, host Sandy Vance chats with Brad Schoffstall, Vice President of Health and Compliance Programs at CGI, and Dr. James Peake, Senior Vice President and former Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Army Surgeon General. They have a wide-ranging and practical conversation about what it actually takes to modernize data infrastructure at federal health agencies. With Brad's 35 years at CGI and Dr. Peake's 16 years, this is a conversation grounded in hard-won experience rather than theory. Today’s conversation is a refreshingly honest and deeply practical perspective for anyone working at the intersection of government, healthcare, and AI.

Episode Notes

In this episode, they talk about:

Federal health agencies are running some of the largest healthcare operations in the world, with the VA equivalent in size to a Fortune 5 company
Data silos created by contract-by-contract procurement are the primary barrier to AI-ready infrastructure at federal agencies
Federated data platforms allow data to stay in its own repositories while being discoverable, mappable, and usable across the organization
Policy is often the biggest obstacle to data sharing, and changing it requires executive-level support and shared governance
Technology is the third most important factor in transformation; policy and business understanding come first and second
CGI improved NHS Spine performance tenfold while reducing infrastructure to a tenth of its original size, saving a million euros in annual expenses
Improper payments across federal health programs run into billions of dollars annually and represent one of the highest-impact areas for AI-driven improvement
AI for AI's sake is not the answer; start with the business problem and work backward to the data strategy
Start small with two or three systems, demonstrate value, and build from there rather than attempting a massive all-at-once implementation

A Little About Brad and James:

Brad Schoffstall has wide-ranging experience, deep knowledge, and skills in information technology. He has led multiple digital transformation efforts. He has 37 years of experience with a diverse set of architectures, operating systems, languages, and technologies. His experience includes enterprise architecture, cloud migration, and hands-on development. He also has significant experience in business development and project management. He has implemented large, complex systems on platforms ranging from mainframes to Microservices. He has successfully performed many solution architecture and SDLC engagements that include characteristics like high-volume processing, DevOps, and automation. He demonstrates expertise in multiple service-based secure architectures utilizing multiple application and enterprise solution sets, e.g., Data Driven, Microservices, Cloud, etc.

Dr. James Peake is an American politician and former lieutenant general who served as the sixth Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2007 to 2009. In 2004, he retired from a 38-year United States Army career, having served as the 40th Surgeon General of the United States Army. After retiring from the Army, Peake served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Project Hope,[4][5] a non-profit international health foundation operating in more than 30 countries. While at Project HOPE, he helped to orchestrate the use of civilian volunteers aboard the Navy Hospital Ship Mercy as it responded to the tsunami disaster in Indonesia and also as part of the Hurricane Katrina response aboard the Hospital Ship Comfort. Just before he was nominated Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Peake served as Chief Medical Officer and Chief Executive Officer for QTC, one of the largest private providers of government-outsourced occupational health and disability examination services in the nation.