No Transparency With the Treasure of VistA

So, just imagine if the National Park Service announced plans to hand over stewardship of Yosemite to a "custodial agent." And suppose the park service put the agency contract up for bid.

Wouldn't you want to know who the bidders and their financial backers were? And wouldn't you want the park service to lay out all the bids for public inspection?

I would, too.

That's standard operating procedure. State government, counties, cities and even small-town park boards must open bids and disclose bidders in public under open-records law. It's just good civic hygiene.

Which brings us to Roger Baker, the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department's IT maven. He announced at a meeting of the WorldVistA community in Fairfax, Va., last week that the VA intends to launch an open-source development project to upgrade VistA, the VA's electronic health-record system.