DoD, VA to Unite e-Records

As Nextgov's Bob Brewin has reported, the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs will create a common platform for their electronic health records. A plan for implementing the joint venture is due in early May.

Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army surgeon general, said last week that a single EHR would make it easier to transfer patient data and increase the amount of patient information shared between the two departments. As Brewin noted in a blog post last week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki agreed to the common platform in a March 17 meeting.

A General Accounting Office report dated Feb. 2 sharply criticized the VA and Defense departments for failing to articulate explicit plans, goals and timeframes for common health IT requirements. GAO said each organization was too narrowly focused on their own EHR modernization, among other issues, to join in planning for their common requirements together.