NHS England Collaborating with U.S. on 'Open' Health IT Solutions

The NHS is spending nearly £300,000 on an exchange programme with the US Veteran’s Health Administration to investigate its use of open source software and telehealth.

Information obtained by EHI via the Freedom of Information Act reveals that the Department of Health allocated £285,000 over three years, “to support the NHS and their work with US Veteran Affairs in relation to digital health solutions.”

One area being explored is the creation of an NHS version of the administration’s open source electronic medical record, VistA.

Ahead of guidance issued this week on creating integrated digital care records, senior figures from NHS England visited the US as part of the exchange to see VistA in action.