Jeff Denham holds DoD and VA feet to the fire
Someone dropped off a link to our Facebook page to a video of Congressman Jeff Denham, an Air Force veteran representing California’s 10th District in the hearings this past week about the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs inability to gin up a system by which they can seamlessly share veterans’ records.
He begins by asking why in the decades since he left the service does he still have to maintain his little yellow shot records card when as a businessman he had all of his inventory and business on a computer network. He’s correct in his conclusion – not that the VA and DoD CAN’T do it – they just don’t WANT to do it.
Thanks for being our voice, Mr. Denham.
Category: Big Army, Veterans in politics, Veterans' Affairs Department
This is nothing short of pathetic! I spent my last two years as a ASI Y8 (immunization/allergy) NCO supporting IET trainees from reception bn onward and for those with orders overseas. Each branch of DoD uses a seperate tracking software for medical records and even then the use of the immunization modules is very poorly implemented across the services. I cant remember how many times I argued with people about how dumb it was for us to not use the internal shot module for AHLTA and to keep reproducing shot records on paper by using the MODs program that has a seperate central database than AHLTA; it’s friggin insane how much people dont want to learn and use existing software.
It is not about software, it is about turf.
Honestly, other than the fact a paper record is now needed by the VA to process a Disability Claim or for continuity of care, once a Veteran is in the VA Health Care System and has had the evidence collected from their Service Medical Record, the VA has no use for the information.
The Paper Service Records could easily be scanned into a Veterans VA Medical Record, I do it often. We will scan in pieces brought in paper form by Veterans. Though I am not thrilled with the method of inputting them as it is not exactly “searchable”. That is the stumbling block they have happened upon…
Really though, it does not matter a whole hill of beans as long as a Paper record from the Military can be produced for the VA to have access to. My Military medical Records were all paper based, and all reside in my Regional VA Office where they are available to my Primary Care, the VA Board of Appeals, for Comp and Pen exams, and if need be to provide me with copies if I desire them.
The problem in my opinion today is more in the Board of Appeals where claims are at a virtual standstill. That is where Shinseki has totally screwed the pooch.
Searching scanned documents is a problem that already has a solution, Adobe has a plugin that allows it and im almost 100% certain there is other software that can do the same. So thats no excuse for the VA, they can get a metric ass ton of people working for them through work-study or rehab programs to do the scanning, with logs of who scanned what records.
That would quickly allow all the various VA entities to have access to relevant documents without having to send the hardcopy every which where. In the event some data is needed to be verified one of the custodians could pull the record and confirm/deny whatever is needed.
I just went to the local VA Clinic to ensure that my info my my latest deployment was recorded, and I found out that all of my old records had been deleted. They told me that if I hadn’t been there for over two years then they deleted all records. Luckily, I had only gone occasionally for minor check-ups and had no major problems. The only reason my name was in their system was that I just demobed in December and my info was forwarded to them. Apparently the 8 years and 2 deployments before that didn’t happen. What a way to run a railroad.
Ho hum.
As a side note: the VA was hiring for the specific KSA needed to do this. DoD? Oh hell no.
DoD hates vets and retirees.
#4 PFM: no, they are lying about deleting the records. I’m still in the computer for VAMC I left years ago. There’s also the law about medical records being official property of the US and their disposition is guided by NARA, not the clerk.
What you experienced was the Hustle. “I can’t find you” means ‘Now I have time to text that hot b*tch about tonight.’
Can anyone say DIMHRS? Oh yeah… we spent WAY over a billion on a system that never worked, ever… Funny that Wal-Mart can convert to an online personnel system in less than a year with very few issues… hmmm…
I’s like to know why there’s no legislation allowing the VA to charge Medicare for vets who are seniors? The cost savings and lower fraud could add up to some genuine savings.
The VA’s Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information officer both announced their resignation a week after the secretaries announced that the quest to develop a single EHR was ending. Why what a coincidence. Seems they’re not playing ball with administration’s plans for handing over the military’s EHR program to a commercial company.
You heard it hear first; the DoD will spend billions on the commercial EHR called Epic, then billions more trying to make it interoperable. Why? Google epic CEO Judy Faulkner and take a look at her very cozy relationship with the Obamas. The will be $100B before the dust settles.