Institute electronic record-keeping for the Veterans Benefits Administration

Obama pledges electronic health records to cover troops from active duty to the VA and beyond

Updated: Thursday, April 9th, 2009 | By Angie Drobnic Holan

President Barack Obama appeared with his secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs on April 9, 2009, to pledge support for the creation of electronic health records that would cover troops "from the day they first enlist to the day that they are laid to rest."

"Under the leadership of Secretary (Robert) Gates and Secretary (Eric) Shinseki, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have taken a first step towards creating one unified lifetime electronic health record for members of our armed services that will contain their administrative and medical information," Obama said.

"I'm asking both departments to work together to define and build a seamless system of integration with a simple goal: When a member of the armed forces separates from the military, he or she will no longer have to walk paperwork from a DOD duty station to a local VA health center; their electronic records will transition along with them and remain with them forever," he added.

Obama noted that Congress has recently approved budget resolutions that support his proposals for increasing funding for veterans services.

When the president brings two Cabinet-level secretaries before the cameras to declare a goal, that's no small use of the bully pulpit. But as Obama noted, it is just a first step and it is likely to take many months for the departments to create such a "seamless" system. So we declare this one In the Works.

Sources:

White House, Remarks by the President on Improving Veterans Health Care , April 9, 2009