The Defense Department went shopping for a new electronic health record system on Feb. 8, just two days after plans to develop a $4 billion integrated electronic health record with the Veterans Affairs Department went south.
The Military Health System, in a notice to industry, said it wanted to deploy an electronic health record “with the most capability in the shortest period of time for the least cost.” Responses were due Wednesday.
VA submitted a white paper detailing how MHS can meet those goals by adopting one of the country’s best (and oldest) electronic health records system, its Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) system.
Defense has resisted using VistA for decades, so I have my doubts it will now turn around and sign on, though the white paper makes a strong case for doing just that.
Hopefully this proposal gets some attention at Wednesday’s House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on the integrated health record debacle.
Bob Brewin
Bob Brewin joined Government Executive in April 2007, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience as a journalist focusing on defense issues and technology. Bob covers the world of defense and information technology for Nextgov, and is the author of the “What’s Brewin” blog.
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