DOD, VA Ask Vendors to Describe Existing Apps for iEHR

The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments want vendors to tell them about services and products they can offer to meet the current and future technical needs for the integrated electronic health record (iEHR) as it prepares to roll out its initial version.

DOD’s Tricare Management Activity, on behalf of the Interagency Program Office, has described the technical specifications, requirements and architecture for a standardized, interoperable iEHR environment and has published specific questions about vendor skills in a recent request for information published in Federal Business Opportunities. Responses are due by Aug. 24.

The DOD/VA Interagency Program Office will include the technical specifications in any future procurement for the iEHR. The first iEHR version will be ready to turn on in two years at VA and DOD centers in San Antonio, Texas, and Hampton Roads, Va., for pharmacy and immunization.

Among its questions, Tricare inquired about a vendor's use of open source software in its product or if any of the vendor’s products were available through open source licensing. Tricare was also interested in the vendor’s experience with a health data dictionary or other mapping services; applying standards for health information exchange, such as used in the virtual lifetime electronic record (VLER); and standards and interoperability, such as the adoption of Health Level 7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA r2) summary care document, web services, security and messaging...