Noteboom The Law Firm

EHRs a Step Closer To Becoming A Reality

March 1, 2011 - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) have both been working on building their individual Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems under the impression they will merge them into one seamless system. On February 17, 2011 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Chief Information Officer Roger Baker told a congressional panel the agreement between the two agencies on how the EHRs are going to work is a is a mere few weeks away.

This on the heels of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued in early February 2011 criticizing and questioning the very possibility of the two departments coming together in the near future.

Baker believes the next couple of months will see the EHR project become a reality, but it will require help from the secretaries. The Department of Defense (DoD) uses an Electronic Data Interchange Personal Identifier for every soldier and veteran, which the VA has agreed to adopt throughout their databases. This will ensure veterans are identified the same way in every system.

The VA's Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) will give private sector health care providers the ability to share patient information. Although not completed, the VA plans on rolling out their VLER in 4 stages by 2012:

• Initial clinical information;
• More information on adjudicating disability claims to include personal and administrative information;
• Any and all information required to claim benefits;
• Opening a web portal for online access to health and administrative information as well as being able to access help from benefits providers.

The VA will spend approximately $3.16 billion on their IT alone in 2012. Developing a full-scale EHR will take a lot of money and time, but in the end it will make life easier for everyone involved.