The Department of Veterans Affairs has partnered with EHR vendors Oracle Health and Epic to help identify veterans receiving care outside of the VA system.
As part of this collaboration, both Oracle Health and Epic have made code available to all their hospital and health system clients, allowing them to integrate the VA's open API into their workflows. The goal of this initiative is to identify veterans under their care, offer them essential support, and provide access to health benefits, including those outlined in the PACT Act.
Shereef Elnahal, under secretary for health at the VA, made the announcement on LinkedIn on Sept. 17, noting that 13 health systems have committed to connecting with the VA using open APIs. Among these include Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, Boston-based Tufts Medicine, Marshfield (Wis.) Clinic Health System and Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health.
"Oracle Health has long provided the technology needed to better serve veterans with quality healthcare, and today is another step forward in this commitment," Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager of Oracle Health and Life Sciences said in a Sept. 17 press release.