VA Pushes DoD To Adopt VistA As Starting Point For Electronic Health Record

Ever since the Defense Department and the Veterans Affairs Department decided to step back from their approach to building a joint electronic health record earlier this year, DoD has been searching for a new electronic records system. As DoD nears a decision point, VA is making the case that its own system, VistA, would make a great fit for both departments.

The two departments' original vision was to build a single electronic health record that would follow a service member from the time he or she enlisted in the military to the time they exited VA care. Both agencies say that's still the fundamental goal, but under a revised program they announced last month, rather than building a record system from scratch, they'll each begin from separate "core technology" starting points and focus more on sharing data than integrating their systems.

Under the new plan, VA decided to use its existing electronic health record system, VistA, as its core technolgy. DoD wants to scrap its current health record, and hasn't yet decided what will replace it.