VA/DoD interoperability

See the following -

Chuck Hagel and the Secret War Over DOD & VA Electronic Health Records

Dan Vernon | FedScoop | August 12, 2014

...Today, the agencies are moving down separate modernization paths, with DOD working on its Defense Healthcare Management System Modernization program (DHMSM) and VA planning commercial acquisitions for the next generation of its Veterans Integrated System Technology Architecture, known as VistA. But analysts, including one of the founding developers of VistA, point to years of missed opportunities for DOD to leverage what many consider to be superior existing capabilities in VA’s VistA system — an ecosystem of modular application components that in most cases have become industry standards (VA’s troubled scheduling system notwithstanding)...

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DOD Releases Update To Electronic Health Record Plan

Adam Mazmanian | FCW | June 16, 2014

The Department of Defense is one step closer to making its final pitch to industry for a modernized electronic health record system. The third draft of the DoD Healthcare Management System Modernization (DHMSM) solicitation was released June 12, and "promises to substantially reflect our final requirement," according to a covering letter from program manager Capt. John Windom. Read More »

Google Joins VistA Team Proposing Open Source EHR for the Department of Defense

Google has thrown its hat into the EHR ring by joining the team led by PwC which is proposing that the Department of Defense (DoD) upgrade their current EHR to Defense Operational Readiness Health System (DORHS), a customized application built for the DoD and based on VistA, the open source EHR developed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)...Google’s participation has enormous implications for both the DoD’s EHR and to the healthcare industry as a whole. By choosing the open source EHR team, Google...has sent a clear message to the world that VistA is the best option for the DoD.

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Government IT contractor sues VA over Cerner Deal

Arthur Allen | Politico | August 23, 2017

CliniComp, a major Pentagon and VA electronic health records provider, is suing the Department of Veterans Affairs over Secretary David Shulkin's decision to offer a no-bid contract to Cerner to replace the agency’s VistA system. The suit brought Friday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims charges that the VA violated federal contracting law by making the June announcement without first conducting market research or assessing the cost of the contract. It demands that the judge restrain the VA from awarding the contract to Cerner until the protest is resolved.

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HIMSS14: Report on Open Source Health IT Tracks at the HIMSS Conference in Orlando

I am writing from the floor of the HIMSS14 conference in Orlando, Florida. This has been so far an incredibly exciting conference as the core principles of open source in healthcare that I have been working on for more than a decade are now becoming mainstream. One sees this all over the conference with presentations, discussions, and exhibits around open source software, such as VistA, as well as other keys "open" concepts such as interoperability, open data/data liquidity, open innovation, and collaboration. And in addition, it has been good to catch up with so many friends.

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House Seeks Details on VA's Health Record Push

Adam Mazmanian | FCW | April 30, 2014

House Republicans are seeking clarity and detail from the Department of Veterans Affairs on plans to improve the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture electronic health record system and make it interoperable with a Department of Defense effort that is still in the planning stages.

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Obama Nomine Makes her Case to Take Over Tech at VA

Adam Mazmanian | Adam Mazmanian | May 19, 2015

LaVerne H. Council, the private-sector IT consultant and former Fortune 50 CIO who is President Barack Obama's pick to take over the Office of Information and Technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs, told lawmakers May 5 how she planned to manage the VA's technology team and its $4.2 billion in annual tech spending. Read More »

Pentagon Accepts Bids on Long-Awaited Health Records Contract

Frank Konkel | Nextgov | August 26, 2014

The Defense Department on Monday opened its Healthcare Management Systems Modernization contract to bids, beginning what could be an $11 billion effort over the next decade to modernize the way the Pentagon provides health care to service members. Read More »

Report: DoD Must Choose Open-Source EHR

Ashley Gold | Politico | February 12, 2015

To fix its health care system the military needs to acquire an open-source electronic health records system, adopt value-based care and give vets and active duty soldiers access to their medical records, according to a report issued Thursday by the Center for a New American Security. The high share of the Pentagon budget — about 10 percent — that goes to healthcare will damage national security unless it can be reduced, concludes the report by Gen. Hugh Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Stephen Ondra, formerly of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Peter Levin, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs’ former chief information officer.

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VA and VistA: Can they be fixed?

Aisha Chowdhry | FCW | July 27, 2016

pivoting away from VistA, the agency's homegrown electronic health record system, would be a major shift for the VA. Former VA CIO Roger Baker said VistA is the only EHR designed by doctors, not technologists. "That is the real power of VistA, and it remains the real power of VistA," he added. The system, rooted in 1970s code, is designed to assist doctors in their daily work. Providers at the various VA medical facilities nationwide customize it for their specific needs.

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