“Veterans are now benefitting from a joint effort to share health records with community health care partners, which launched April 18.”
“The joint health information exchange, or HIE, helps Veterans by allowing VA and Department of Defense health care systems to quickly and securely share patient records with community health care partners.”
“The new system also allows sharing when a Veteran or DOD beneficiary is being seen by the community partner. VA and DOD health care providers can review records from external partners for continuity of care. The joint HIE can reduce the burden on Veterans to share their health history multiple times. This also helps Veterans avoid duplicative tests or carrying printed health records.”
“’When clinicians have a more comprehensive picture of their patient’s health data, including data from private sector providers, this improves the quality of health care,’ said Dr. Neil Evans, the interim director of the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization (FEHRM) program office. ‘The health information being exchanged should enable patient-provider conversations to start more productively and lead to a better experience for Veterans.’”
“Building upon the success of VA’s health information exchange work, known as VHIE, the joint HIE creates an enhanced platform that will support significant expansion of VA and DOD’s community exchange partnerships. Later this year, the joint HIE will add a sizeable network of partners, dramatically increasing by more than 15,000 the total number of community partners VA and DOD can exchange data with, making it much more likely that a Veteran’s health records—including prescriptions, allergies and medical notes—from the private sector will be conveniently available to their VA provider during and between their appointments…” Read the full article here.
Source: Veterans benefit from new health data sharing – May 18, 2020. VAntage Point.
