The Department of Veterans Affairs has opted to use a clinical decision support (CDS) system for its integrated electronic health record system with the Department of Defense.
In a notice Federal Business Opportunities, the VA, via the Department of the Interior, requested that the D-service interface specifications it wants for its CDS is CDS functionality as a service. Currently, most CDS systems are linked with specific vendor EHR software or modules.
"The objective of the proposed project on behalf of the VA, is to define service interface specifications for Electronic Health Record (EHR) services required for a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) approach to Clinical Decision Support (CDS) which both (i) support the anticipated CDS needs of interagency Electronic Health Record (iEHR) and (ii) can serve as the basis of international health IT standards in this area," the notice said.
The VA noted that as the scope of CDS expands beyond the scope of any one single EHR vendor, there needs to be an architectural framework where CDS can be used by more than one group and more than one system, according to Government Health IT.
Comments are due July 9.
The VA has taken a very forward thinking approach in the development of its iEHR system, using a comprehensive, enterprise-wide pharmacy system and the military health system's 'way; ahead' architecture as the backbone of its system. While a preliminary iEHR will roll out in 2014, the pilot programs are running ahead of schedule, according to a Federal News Radio report.
To learn more
- view the business opportunity
- read the Government Health IT article
- check out this Federal News Radio piece