VistA iPhone Apps

That's the approach Veterans Affairs Department Chief Information Officer Roger Baker told me he plans go take in fixing the problem information technology projects halted by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki on Friday.

While some of the suspended projects are years behind schedule -- such as the Pharmacy Re-Engineering program -- Baker said just speeding up development seems the wrong approach. Instead, Baker said, he intends to figure out a "predictable path" for development and deployment for the systems that, although temporarily halted, the department really needs.

VA end users -- nurses and doctors -- will be a key part of the development effort, Baker said, invoking the clinician involvement in development of the department's Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture.

In a line that will earn him kudos from VistA programmers, who are as fanatical as the fans of Apple computer products and gizmos, Baker said the tight involvement of end users in the development of VistA software was reflected in the user driven development of iPhone applications.

He wants to harness the energy and passion that drove VistA development (and iPhone development) to developing VA systems of today.

Who knows, maybe someday there will be VistA iPhone apps.