VA Open Source Group Names Board of Health IT Experts

The open source organization that the Veterans Affairs Department created to accelerate innovation in its VistA electronic health record software and to support its integrated EHR system with the Defense Department has established a guiding board of IT luminaries. The Open Source Electronic Health Record Agent (OSEHRA) promotes open, modular architecture that uses non-proprietary standard open interfaces. Launched in August 2011, OSEHRA also is designed to establish a new model of federal software development and procurement.

OSEHRA’s inaugural board of directors, according to the March 6 announcement, is comprised of:

• Dr. James Peake, senior vice president with CGI Group, Inc. and former VA department secretary
• Dr..John Halamka, chief information officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and co-chair of the federal advisory Health IT Standards Committee
• Michael O’Neill, senior advisor with the VA Innovation Initiative (VAi2)

In addition, Lt. Gen. Dr. Charles Green, surgeon general of the U.S. Air Force, will act as DOD liaison to the OSEHRA board. Dr. Peake will serve as OSEHRA’s chairman...