VA, DOD agree on joint platform for e-health records, Shinseki says

-Agreement made March 17; next step is implementation plan by May 1

The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments have agreed to create a joint common platform for electronic medical records as they confront the need to modernize their respective digital systems, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said at a Senate hearing today. Shinseki told a Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee that he had reached the agreement with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on March 17 and the next milestone is a meeting May 1 to review an implementation plan for the joint platform.

VA uses the complex Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA), which is more than 20 years old. DOD uses AHLTA, which is transitioning to the EHR Way Ahead system. “We have had discussions under way for two years,” Shinseki told the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies Subcommittee. DOD and VA have terrific record systems, he added, but they are aging and will lack important capabilities in the future unless they are updated.