Military to test lifetime EHR in six local communities
By Peter Buxbaum
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
The Department of Veteran Affairs is seeking community coordinators to head up as many as six localized health information exchange projects designed to advance the VA and Department of Defense joint virtual lifetime electronic record project (VLER).
"The Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record Health Communities Initiative is the first necessary step for the implementation and refinement of VLER," said an online business notice posted yesterday by VA.
VLER was initiated by President Obama in April 2009 and calls for the development of a system that will include administrative and medical information for members of the armed services during the course of their military careers and after they leave the military.
VA and DoD have selected the first VLER Health Community, according to the announcement, and will be selecting between two and six additional communities by the end of September 2010.
VLER Health Communities will test the exchange of health data among VA, DoD, and private sector providers via the Department of Health and Human Services' Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) project. The communities will be selected on the basis of sufficient concentrations of VA, DoD, and private sector care and high levels of adoption of health information technology.
VLER Health Community Coordinators will organize activities among participating agencies and organizations and will encourage adoption of electronic health record technology in the local communities. The pilot project is expected to begin in February 2010.
Meanwhile, Dr. David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, recently announced funding for a national project of electronic health record adoption and health information exchange that is also based on local community projects.
The Beacon Community Program was awarded $235 million by the Obama administration last week to support EHR initiatives in 15 communities.
Communities receiving that funding will be reporting on progress toward health and efficiency goals related to EHR adoption such as reductions in blood pressure among hypertensives, reduced blood sugar levels among diabetics, lower smoking levels, or reductions in health care disparities among populations.
In a recent blog post, Blumenthal noted that the “Beacon” communities would leverage other federal HIE projects, including the VLER.
