Hearing Focuses On Health Data Exchange Plans Of Pentagon, VA

At a House hearing on Wednesday, officials from the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs discussed their plans to develop a system to exchange standard clinical health data, rather than developing a joint electronic health record system as originally planned, NextGov reports.

Frank Kendall -- DOD's undersecretary for acquisition, technology and logistics -- and Robert Petzel -- VA's undersecretary for health -- discussed the plan during a joint hearing of the House Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committees (Brewin, NextGov, 7/10).

Background

DOD and VA first launched an effort to create a joint integrated EHR, or iEHR system, in 2009. The iEHR project aimed to allow every service member to maintain a single EHR throughout his or her career and lifetime.