The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday released a request for information, seeking industry insight into whether to replace its homegrown VistA EHR with a commercial cloud-based system, according to FedScoop.com.
The RFI, which focuses on VistA's clinical functions, emphasized a transition to the cloud would consolidate the VistA EHR. VistA's current system is hosted on five data centers across the United States. These data centers house 130 instances of VistA, each of which has unique routines and data dictionaries.
Industry experts have until April 26 to respond to the VA's request, according to FedScoop.com. Last month, VA Secretary David Shulkin, MD, shared plans to announce the strategic direction of the VA's EHR system in July.