“One of the primary goals of the $10 billion project to move the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to a new health records system was to enable data sharing between the VA and the Department of Defense (DOD).”
“The objective was to enable seamless care for military service members as they transition to veteran status. According to testimony from VA officials this week, the plan to have interoperability between the two agencies faces challenges due to laws and regulations over data governance.”
“During a House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Technology Modernization hearing, Susie Lee, D-Nevada, chairwoman of the subcommittee, grilled VA officials about whether veterans who get care at VA and DOD healthcare facilities would able to get their entire health record once both agencies transition to a Cerner electronic health record (EHR).”
“‘We heard that a patient treated at both VA and DOD will have to request their records separately from the two departments due to restrictions caused by data ownership policies. That’s concerning to me because the goal of Congress in establishing the Electronic Health Record Modernization program was to establish one single record as it follows service members from enlistment to military service and then as they transition to veteran status,’ Lee said.”
“VA Deputy Secretary James Byrne told lawmakers that enabling VA and DOD providers to see a patient’s entire health record in the EHR would be challenging, but ‘that is a capability that we intend to have if we don’t have it already.’”
“But Laura Kroupa, M.D., chief medical officer for the Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization (OEHRM) within the VA, testified there were challenges with laws and regulations governing what each agency can release…” Read the full article here.
Source: (Another) roadblock identified in VA, DOD transition to Cerner EHR – By Heather Landi, November 21, 2019. Fierce Healthcare.
