Obama announces joint virtual lifetime electronic record

Electronic Medical Records are in the news again.
Live-Vu is working with the VA and will work on being a part of this effort.

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2009 - President Barack Obama announced plans today to create a joint virtual lifetime electronic record that will improve care and services to transitioning veterans by smoothing the flow of medical records between the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments. The concept, long advocated by officials in both departments, is considered a major step toward improving the delivery of care and services to service members transitioning from military to civilian life.

The goal, he said, is simple and straightforward."When a member of the armed forces separates from the military, he or she will no longer have to walk paperwork from a [Defense Department] duty station to a local VA health center," Obama explained. "Their electronic records will transition along with them and remain with them forever."

No comprehensive system is currently in place to streamline the transition of health records between the two departments, the president noted. "And that results in extraordinary hardship for an awful lot of veterans who end up finding their records lost [or] unable to get their benefits processed in a timely fashion," he said.Obama said he's heard countless stories over the years about veterans who found it almost impossible to get the benefits they had earned - even when their disabilities and needs were clearly evident."

That's why I'm asking both departments to work together to define and build a seamless system of integration," he said.

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