On Oct. 1 the Veterans Affairs Department plans to allow employees access to a "particular set of very popular [mobile] devices," once they are secure and encrypted, said VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker during a June 30 press call.

"As Vivek [Kundra] said here a few months ago: Bring your own viewer, and we'll have a list of what those can be and it's likely to be a moderately long list," said Baker.

A June 9 presentation by Charles De Sanno, VA's director for enterprise infrastructure engineering and enterprise operations/field development, revealed that IT controls permitting iPads to be used at the agency would be in place by Oct. 1. An iPad pilot has been underway at VA as well.

It's unclear whether expanded mobile device support at VA will translate to a large-scale procurement or a bring-your own device policy.

"What's highly popular today, may well be a backwater two or three years down the road," said Baker. "If we keep, as an organization, doing a heavyweight implementation of devices we'll be in the mode of being able to fully support something that everybody no longer wants."

During the press call Baker also provided an update on the VA-Defense Department integrated electronic health record. Effort officials are currently focused on making decisions about joint packages--in other words, where VA will adopt what DoD is doing, where DoD will adopt what VA is doing and where a unique package will be selected and acquired to satisfy both parties, said Baker.

A memorandum will soon be released naming an interim program executive, said Baker. Up to this point Baker and DoD Chief Management Officer Beth McGrath have been co-chairs of the effort.

"The two secretaries have made tremendous progress over the last several months in, if you will, requiring that the two departments work together. We are at a point where that is irreversible," said Baker.

Until now, the project has been known as "iEHR." It's possible the name could change to "joint electronic health record" or jEHR, but it hasn't yet been thoroughly discussed, mentioned Baker.

For more:
- listen to the press call 

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