Government officials at a Feb. 7 hearing indicated an interest in moving the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs toward a commercial EHR provider, rather than continuing development of its own record system, according to FCW.com.
The VistA EHR is used across the VA's more than 1,200 healthcare locations, but with growing focus on mobility and security, the VA has been deliberating whether to modernize VistA or move to a commercial system.
"This uncertainly is not acceptable and a decision needs to be made," said Dave Powner, who leads coverage of IT issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, as reported by FCW.com. "VA needs to let go of VistA and go to a commercial solution."
VA Acting CIO Rob Thomas shared a similar sentiment, according to FCW.com, saying: "My goal is to go commercial to the greatest extent possible."
As the VA makes its decision, it will be watching the progress of the U.S. Department of Defense, which is working with Cerner to transition its multiple EHR systems onto a single platform.