Sluggish progress by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs in setting up a joint interagency program office to facilitate health information exchange may be seriously hampering the military’s ability to meet congressional mandates in this area.
That was one of the conclusions reached by the Government Accountability Office in a study released Monday on the extent to which the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments are sharing electronic health information.
“The departments’ effort to set up the program office is still in its early stages,” the report states. “Leadership positions in the office are not yet permanently filled, staffing is not complete, and facilities to house the office have not been designated.”
Congress directed the departments to have the office fully operational by Sept. 30, 2009.
“Without a fully established program office and a finalized implementation plan with set milestones, the departments may be challenged in meeting the required date for achieving interoperable electronic health records and capabilities,” the report concluded.
The GAO also found that DOD and VA have successfully agreed on some data standards and are sharing some electronic health information at varying levels of interoperability. Pharmacy and drug allergy data are exchanged in computable form, “the highest level of interoperability,” the GAO found.
In some cases, records are “read-only,” while in others electronic health information cannot be shared. “Information is still captured on paper at many DOD medical facilities,” the report noted. The exchange of paper-based information is an issue the departments still need to address, the report concluded.
A DOD/VA Information Interoperability Plan, targeted for approval in August, will address these issues and plan for greater data interoperability, the GAO reported.
The GAO recommended that the departments give priority to fully establishing the program office and finalizing the implementation plan. DOD and VA concurred with GAO’s recommendations.
Government Health IT will present Liesa Jo Jenkins, executive director of CareSpark, in an eSeminar at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, where she will share her experiences and insight into building a health information exchange that enhances community health, rewards regional collaboration and drives economic progress.
