VA, DoD Discusses Steps Toward iEHR, VLER

When Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki met at the Pentagon earlier this week, EHRs was one of the topics on the table. The meeting on Monday was one in a series the two secretaries have held on issues of common interest to both Departments.

"The vision Secretary Panetta and I share is to provide an integrated, seamless experience to our people across their lifetimes – from when they raise their hands to take the oath, to when they leave active service and join the Veteran ranks, to when they are laid to rest with final honors," Secretary Shinseki said. "Over the past three years, VA and DoD have made significant progress, but more work remains."

The lifetime record to which Secretary Shinseki referred is knows as VLER, as in the virtual lifetime electronic record, while iEHR is the EHR the deparments are jointly developing to integrate the DoD's ALTHA with the VA's VistA systems...