Information Technology: Challenges Remain for VA's Sharing of Electronic Health Records with DOD Page: 3 of 18
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Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:
I am pleased to be here today to discuss the efforts of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to advance the use of health
information technology to achieve interoperable electronic health
records with the Department of Defense (DOD). VA has been
working with DOD for over a decade to pursue initiatives to share
data between the two departments' health information systems. To
expedite the departments' efforts, the National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 20081 included provisions directing
VA and DOD to jointly develop and implement, by September 30,
2009, fully interoperable electronic health record systems or
capabilities that are compliant with applicable federal
interoperability2 standards. Such systems and capabilities are
important for making patient information more readily available to
health care providers in both departments, reducing medical errors,
and streamlining administrative functions.
The experience of VA and DOD in this area is also relevant to
broader efforts to advance the nationwide use of health information
technology (IT) in both the public and private health care sectors -
a goal of both current and past administrations. As you are aware, a
nationwide effort is currently under way to promote the use of
health IT to help improve the efficiency and quality of health care. In
April 2004 an executive order called for widespread adoption of
interoperable electronic health records by 2014,3 and it set up the
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology within the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) to help guide efforts leading to this goal. Most recently, in
February, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
1The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-181, Section
1635 (Jan. 28, 2008).
2Interoperability is the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange
information and to use the information that has been exchanged. Further discussion of
levels of interoperability is provided later in this testimony.
3Executive Order 13335, Incentives for the Use of Health Information Technology and
Establishing the Position of the National Health Information Technology Coordinator
(Washington, D.C.: Apr. 27, 2004).GAO-09-427T
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United States. Government Accountability Office. Information Technology: Challenges Remain for VA's Sharing of Electronic Health Records with DOD, text, March 12, 2009; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc295120/m1/3/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.