Obama Announces Electronic Health Records For Vets
(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
The president was joined by Secretary Gates and Secretary Shinseki when he made his announcement. He spoke to leaders from various veterans organizations, veteran patients and healthcare providers from veterans facilities.
Mr. Obama called the initiative a "first step towards creating one, unified, lifetime electronic health record for members of our Armed Services that will contain their administrative and medical information from the day they first enlist to the day that they are laid to rest."
There is currently no way for paperwork to get from the Departments of Defense to the Veterans Administration, the president said, noting that records are often lost or held up.
The president said he has asked both departments to work together for a "simple goal': "when a member of the Armed Services seperates from the military he or she will no longer have to walk paperwork from D.O.D. duty station to a local V.A. healthcenter. Their electronic records will transition along with them and remain with them forever."
