Common VA-DOD Health Record Interface Nearing Completion

The first milestone for the upcoming joint Veterans Affairs and Defense Department electronic health record platform is a common graphical user interface to be in place by July, according to W. Scott Gould, deputy secretary for the VA.

The first milestone for the upcoming joint Veterans Affairs and Defense Department electronic health record platform is a common graphical user interface to be in place by July, according to W. Scott Gould, deputy secretary for the VA.

A prototype interface already has been developed, Gould told the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs on May 18. The user interface provides the front end and a point-of-entry for physicians to interact with the digital medical record system, he said.

The VA-DOD program to develop a common electronic health record system has kicked into high gear in recent weeks, following a February 2011 critical report from the Government Accountability Office that suggested the two departments did not have an effective joint strategy.

The GAO concerns were legitimate, Gould said, and as a result the VA and DOD secretaries met and committed to a joint electronic platform for health records.