Va Gets Kudos On

[Berta]

Source VA Media Press Release

"Medical Journal Praises VA Electronic Health Record

VA Continues to Lead Health Care Industry

WASHINGTON (April 6, 2009) - A recent study in the prestigious New

England Journal of Medicine singles out the Department of Veterans

Affairs (VA) for its successful implementation of a comprehensive system

of electronic health records.

The study's authors, led by Dr. Ashish K. Jha of Harvard University,

noted that VA's use of electronic health records has significantly

enhanced the quality of patient care. They also found that only 1.5

percent of U.S. hospitals have comprehensive electronic health records;

adding VA hospitals to the analyses doubled that number.

"VA hospitals have used electronic health records for more than a decade

with dramatic associated improvements in clinical quality," the study's

authors wrote.

VA clinicians began using computerized patient records in the mid-1990s

for everything from recording examinations by doctors to displaying

results of lab tests and x-rays. Patient records are available 100

percent of the time to VA health care workers, compared to 60 percent

when VA relied on paper records.

Dr. Michael J. Kussman, VA's under secretary for health, said VA has

"one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated electronic systems" for

patient records in the nation.

"VA's electronic health record system has largely eliminated errors

stemming from lost or incomplete medical records, making us one of the

safest systems in the health care industry," Kussman said.

The authors of the NEJM article are the latest to praise VA for its

technology and commitment to patient safety. In 2006, VA received the

prestigious "Innovations in American Government" Award from Harvard's

Kennedy School of Government for its advanced electronic health records

and performance measurement system."

[purple]

Sorry, I think I just puked in my mouth.

I'm going to e-mail the authors of this piece of fiction and tell them the real story.

[tagandbag]

My opinion is that this is mostly true with the VAMC and hopefully will only get better. Nothing is perfect and with all the patients and records they handle, there is always the possibility for error.

T&B

[allan]

When seeking ER care, I find it interesting the VA nurse can't find any medical records in their computer, when the records dept is 10 feet away.

I also find it interesting that one VAMC in the same state can't access any previous VAMC medical records, labs, MRI's, ex-rays on me at another VAMC while doing a neurological workup or orthopeadic workup.

They have it together alright. The best in the world.

[purple]

....yup, and my doc never knows what meds I'm on, never knows what I'm allergic too, i even have to spell one of the meds for the nurses everytime. and let's not even start on the pharmacy...omg, they might as well be using post-it notes.

[Pete53]

My experience is that the defaults answer many questions electronically and are wrong and do not fit the dialogue. What is your pain and you say 7 and the record says 0.

[john999]

The VAMC still gets my records mixed up with another vet that has the same first and last name I do. Since we have different SSA numbers and different claim numbers I don't know how this happens. I was getting labs done last week and you would not believe what a madhouse the VAMC was here in Tampa. I have never seens crowds like that with people waiting for hours to get their labs done.