What a Concept: VA Pitches Its Electronic Health Records System to Defense
Elizabeth McGrath said the department will conduct an analysis of VistA along with commercial systems for its next generation EHR. Caitlin Fairchild/Nextgov.com
By
Bob Brewin
The Pentagon has long resisted using VistA.
The Defense Department went shopping for a new electronic health record system on Feb. 8, just two days after plans to develop a $4 billion integrated electronic health record with the Veterans Affairs Department went south.
The Military Health System, in a notice to industry, said it wanted to deploy an electronic health record “with the most capability in the shortest period of time for the least cost.” Responses were due Wednesday.
VA submitted a white paper detailing how MHS can meet those goals by adopting one of the country’s best (and oldest) electronic health records system, its Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) system.
Defense has resisted using VistA for decades, so I have my doubts it will now turn around and sign on, though the white paper makes a strong case for doing just that.
Hopefully this proposal gets some attention at Wednesday’s House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on the integrated health record debacle.