America’s veterans deserve world-class health care. However, for many years, the infrastructure established to meet their needs was inadequate.
Chief among the shortcomings is the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) computer software system, which can generously be described as a decades-old outdated mess.
In fact, it was not even a system long ago. Since the 1980s (and going back even further), each VA hospital has operated in a siled environment, unilaterally changing its computer software. There is some logic to customization, allowing hospitals to innovate and adjust their software to best serve veterans.
However, the larger VA system was not designed to recognize and implement these changes to ensure interoperability and continuity.
As a result, any software modifications that VA hospitals apply on their own are no longer compatible with other VA hospitals or any other medical records system on the planet. Nearly half a century after the introduction of VA software, the health records of our nation’s heroes are left behind in individual hospitals with no digital escape.
This reality has created a completely avoidable documentation nightmare for veterans and everyone involved in their care. Whenever a veteran travels outside of the scope of their local VA hospital, they maintain a health record. No other medical institutions he visits, whether government or private, have access to his records.
It’s 2024. This is insane. And it doesn’t take much of a logical leap to understand the devastating and potentially fatal consequences of this outdated process.
Thankfully, VA system replacement is currently underway. Hospital by hospital – to ensure successful implementation.
That’s great news. Even better news? The Department of Defense (DOD) has already almost completely deployed that version of the system with great success.
In 2023, the Department of Defense will nearly complete full deployment of a new electronic health record (EHR) system called MHS GENESIS, leaving only four locations for deployment in early 2024. Following these Department of Defense EHR system deployments, U.S. Air Force Col. Thomas Cantilina, Chief Medical Information Officer, Defense Health Agency; Said:
“In 2016, our systems were disjointed and we couldn’t get our old systems to do what we needed them to do. Today, we have systems that are safer, provide more functionality for patients and providers, and provide better We now have a single system that provides services and interoperability of patient information with all military hospitals and clinics, as well as the VA.”
Major hospital research group evaluation showed that the Department of Defense’s new EHR outperformed the Department of Defense’s previous legacy system for safe drug ordering and improved patient safety. And what’s great for our nation’s service members, and I think it’s great for our veterans, is that this is a long process, and we want to make sure that our top priority is to quickly conduct a thorough review of these systems. We need to do everything we can to help.
As service members transition from the Department of Defense to VA care, the importance of a single lifetime EHR that accompanies veterans to the VA or wherever they receive care is more important than ever.
With the DoD’s baseline EHR complete, the overall project to modernize EHRs for military and veterans is halfway complete, but we need to do everything we can to get the job done quickly. there is.
The VA’s implementation of a version of the Department of Defense system would then ensure seamless and optimal health care for service members and service members. That’s exactly what each person gets, both during and after work.
Jason Gorey is an expert and leader in U.S. defense innovation, industrial infrastructure, and supply chain. Jason received his commission through Georgetown University ROTC and was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq as an Army Reserve Officer.
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