Shinseki and Gates clinch deal on common health record

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said Thursday he and Defense Secretary Robert Gates agreed on March 17 that their departments would develop a 'common' electronic health record (EHR) system. A former high-ranking federal health information technology official, who declined to be identified, said the agreement ultimately could save the two departments billions of dollars in development and maintenance costs.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said Thursday he and Defense Secretary Robert Gates agreed on March 17 that their departments would develop a common electronic health record system. A former high-ranking federal health information technology official, who declined to be identified, said the agreement ultimately could save the two departments billions of dollars in development and maintenance costs.

Shinseki, speaking at a hearing of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs panel of the Senate Appropriations Committee said he and Gates had agreed to "merge our capabilities to come up with a common platform," but provided few details.

He disclosed the agreement with Gates well over an hour into the hearing in a back-and-forth dialogue with ranking member Mark Kirk, R-Ill. Kirk at one point asked if the Defense Department was ready to "surrender" on the continued use of its AHLTA electronic health record system and go with VA's decades old Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture, known as VistA.

Defense, Shinseki said, "understands its current system [AHLTA] is not what it needs in the future." He then disclosed the agreement with Gates to develop a common system, and added the two departments will work on details between now and May.