VA to allow clinicians to access cloud applications

Doctors and other clinicians at Veterans Affairs Department will soon have access to online cloud-based tools such as Google Docs and Yahoo Calendar.

The VA is creating a secure portal that would authenticate the users and allow access to several popular commercial cloud-based applications, according to Roger Baker, the department's assistant secretary for information and technology and CIO.

Baker said in a press call July 25 the goal is to allow access commercial cloud applications from recognizable brands such as Amazon and Google. He declined to name the specific applications to be made available in the VA, but sharing documents on Google Docs and sharing of scheduling information on Yahoo Calendar are known to be popular applications among health care clinicians.

“This is for clinicians who are looking for tools,” Baker said. “Our clinicians, in looking for tools to better do their job, have found ways of doing things like shift hand off and other tools that are easier to use and more broadly available from cloud service providers."