HHS selects Northrop Grumman for e-travel

The Department of Health and Human Services has selected Northrop Grumman to provide E-Travel Services.

Department of Health and Human Services officials have selected Northrop Grumman Corp. to provide E-Travel Services.

HHS officials announced the $954,000 task-order contract today for Northrop Grumman Mission System's GovTrip system. The contract will also include costs per transaction, so the overall value is expected to exceed that base amount, HHS officials said.

Northrop Grumman was one of three vendors approved last month by the General Services Administration to provide E-Travel Services, one of the Bush administration's e-government initiatives. Treasury Department officials also selected Northrop Grumman, and several other agencies are expected to make task-order awards this month.

HHS officials will implement GovTrip during the next two years. The integrated, end-to-end travel management system will support the department's planning, authorization and reservations claims, officials said. The system, which they said addressed several of the department's unique travel-management needs, is expected to save HHS more than $35 million during the next ten years.

"The E-Travel initiative will help the department realize efficiencies, cost-savings and increased service associated with a common, automated and integrated approach to managing travel," HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said in a statement.