VA, DOD to Incorporate Open Source in EHR

The secretaries of the Veterans Affairs and Defense Departments will meet May 2 to determine their next steps toward developing a single electronic health record for the two agencies, according a senior VA official. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and DOD Secretary Robert Gates agreed in March on a commonn technical arcitecture, data and services and exchange standards for the joint system.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and DOD Secretary Robert Gates agreed in March on a commonn technical arcitecture, data and services and exchange standards for the joint system. But the two departments will move incrementally to a joint electronic health record (EHR) system to avoid disrupting clinicians treating patients at their medical centers, said Roger Baker, VA CIO.

A single electronic health record system has been advocated for years, but its development is finally gaining traction. Currently, both VA’s VistA and DOD’s AHLTA electronic health record systems have their own large installed base of software applications.

“One of my objectives is to have minimal disruption in the hospitals as we evolve from VistA to the joint EHR system  What I think you will see us do is replace modules, do incremental upgrades,” he said April 28 in a briefing with reporters. “In five or 10 years, there may not be one line of code left from VistA. And in my ideal world, the users will have no idea that I have made any changes,” he added.