U.S. scales back goal on veterans' health records with an eye on costs

[unhappycamper]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/06/us-usa-veterans-idUSBRE91500Q20130206

U.S. scales back goal on veterans' health records with an eye on costs
WASHINGTON | Tue Feb 5, 2013 10:38pm EST

(Reuters) - The U.S. government is ditching ambitious plans to create a single computer system for troops and military veterans to track their health records, opting instead for a more modest, less costly plan that officials said will deliver on goals faster.

The decision announced on Tuesday is complicated and technical but goes to the core of President Barack Obama's goal to create a smooth transition for troops as they leave the military after 11 years of war and seek care at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The two bureaucracies - the largest in the U.S. government - still lack a shared electronic medical health record for troops, many of whom have complex injuries and take multiple medications. A new system, built from the ground up to fix the problem, was not going to be fully ready until 2017.

"It's frustrating. It's been inefficient for service members to have to hand-deliver records from one system to another when they get out of the military," said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. "It doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense."




unhappycamper comment: Having been in Corporate America IT for the last 25 years, "A new system, built from the ground up to fix the problem, was not going to be fully ready until 2017" is doublespeak for "Aw, crap - we need to start all over again."

[daleanime]

1. Hey, it's more important that we have the means to kill people.....

rather then heal people.