House Bill Would Mandate EHR Interoperability For Pentagon, VA

Late last month, lawmakers introduced a bill (HR 2590) that would require the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to establish interoperability between their electronic health record systems within 180 days of the bill's enactment, EHR Intelligence reports (Bresnick, EHR Intelligence, 7/23).

Background

DOD and VA first launched an effort to create a joint integrated EHR, or iEHR system, in 2009. The iEHR project aimed to allow every service member to maintain a single EHR throughout his or her career and lifetime.

However, DOD and VA officials in February announced plans to halt the iEHR project and instead focus on making their current EHR systems more interoperable.