Hagel Opts for Commercial Electronic Health Record Software
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel opted to run procurements for commercial electronic health record software, which will “likely” include software based on the system used by the Veterans Affairs Department. The move is considered a blow to VA and a boon to the healthcare information technology industry, multiple sources said.
In a memo obtained by Nextgov , Hagel said today that “a competitive process will allow DoD to consider commercial alternatives that may offer reduced cost, reduced schedule and technical risk, and access to increased current capability and future growth in capability by leveraging ongoing advances in the commercial marketplace.”
The Defense secretary reached this decision after a 30-day review of the DoD-VA integrated electronic health record program led by Frank Kendall, undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, and Jessica Wright, acting undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness. Hagel said based on that review, “I am convinced that a competitive process is the optimal way to ensure we select the best value solution for DoD.”...
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Opening the Door to Companie Supporting the VistA System
My understanding is that the announcement from Secretary Hagel helps create a framework that opens the door and would allow commercial entities that support VistA to bid on implementing it in DoD facilities. It may actually help level the playing field for companies supporting VistA to compete against Epic, Cerner, etc. There are now so many federal, state, local, and private healthcare facilities running VistA it should be a major contender. See emerging GIS Map of VistA installations at https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?snapid=S935808t8PD