The Veterans Affairs and Defense departments will develop a joint electronic health record system, merging the capabilities of VA's VistA and DoD's AHLTA platforms. A common system would serve 7.8 million VA patients and more than 9 million DoD patients.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki told a March 31 panel of the Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee on military construction, Veterans Affairs and related agencies that he and Defense Secretary Robert Gates had come to the agreement March 17, after approximately two years of discussions. On May 1 the two will meet again to solidify an implementation plan for the joint EHR, said Shinseki.

Details on what a joint platform would look like are sparse. Shinseki, indicated that DoD sees AHLTA as inadequate and is "looking for new direction"--possibly indicating a common system that relies more heavily on VistA.

"We have a terrific electronic health record, but again, it's about 20 years in being. So, we're going to have to adjust also to ensure the sustainability of that system. It's a great opportunity for both of us to put our heads together," said Shinseki.

A Government Accountability Office report released March 23 found that incompatible DoD-VA health IT systems led to inadequate care for injured combat personnel.

For more:
- see a video of the testimony
- see Shinseki's prepared testimony (.pdf)
- see the GAO report (pdf.) 

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