VA, DoD will meet EMR interoperability deadline

The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs will have the "core capabilities" of a single, interoperable EMR in place by a Sept. 30 deadline, Government Health IT reports.

Speaking at a Washington, DC, conference last week, Rear Adm. Greg Timberlake, program director of the DOD/VA Interagency Program, outlined some of the steps the departments have taken, including the Pentagon's awarding of a contract to build an inpatient module for the Pentagon's AHLTA EMR.

At the same meeting, an official from the VA described how that department has improved electronic questionnaires and self-assessment forms in the highly regarded Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) clinical system. Those forms eventually will be added to AHLTA, according to Joseph Gardiner, acting director for the VA/DOD Health Information Sharing Directorate within the VA.

For more on this collaborative effort:
- check out the Government Health IT story