Pentagon and VA drop plan for new computer system

Pentagon, VA drop plan for new computer system for health records
Posted Wednesday, Feb. 06, 2013
Star Telegram
BY KEVIN FREKING
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Congressional leaders overseeing veterans' issues criticized on Wednesday a decision by the Obama administration to move away from building a new computer system for storing the health records of troops and veterans.

The Pentagon and the Veterans Affairs Department are working to merge their health records so that doctors can track a patient's health history from the time he or she enters the military to when her or she leaves and gets care at the VA.

The plan was to build a new computer system that would allow the two departments to merge their health records by 2017. The departments announced Tuesday they could get the job done more quickly and cheaply by enhancing their existing, but disparate computer systems.
read more here