US dept of VA opens EHR work for VistA

FAIRFAX, USA: ASM Research, an Accenture Federal Services Company, has been awarded a three-year, $162 million contract from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to support the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) Clinical Application and Enterprise Core Services.

The VistA Core project work is designed to strengthen and expand veteran healthcare services. Work under the contract enables greater interoperability of systems and healthcare records and will meet the highest security standards, as shared.

ASM also will update VistA's Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS), providing a modern, web-based access to patient records. CPRS is being explained as a critical component of VistA that provides clinicians, managers, support staff and researchers an integrated patient record management system which provides a single interface for physicians to manage patient care and records.

"VistA Enterprise Core Services will modernize the VistA workflow and information access throughout the continuum of patient care for our veterans," said Jim Traficant, president of ASM Research and a managing director at Accenture Federal Services.

Work under the contract is also said to help improve data sharing across the VA, including care transitions and implementation of standards of care. ASM will deliver technical architecture, clinical analysis, software development, engineering management and training to support VistA modernization. This work will help the VA build the next level of patient care capabilities within VistA.

"The VA's ability to improve data interoperability will have a dramatic effect on the VA's provision of the quality of care, patient safety and healthcare outcomes," said John Fraser, ASM Research executive vice president and COO.